USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The use of barbed wire fences meant that cattle could be contained on enclosed ranches, which helped eliminate the open range and the long cattle drives associated with it. Barbed wire also kept new ranchers out, and reduced labor costs, as fewer cowboys were needed to supervise and herd the cattle.

Detailed explanation-2: -As the use of barbed wire increased, wide open spaces became less wide, less open, and less spacious, and the days of the free roaming cowboy were numbered.

Detailed explanation-3: -Without the alternative offered by cheap and portable barbed wire, few farmers would have attempted to homestead on the Great Plains, since they could not have afforded to protect their farms from grazing herds of cattle and sheep. Barbed wire also brought a speedy end to the era of the open-range cattle industry.

Detailed explanation-4: -With the invention of barbed wire, rangelands were enclosed, the cattle drives ended, and a new way of moving cattle to emerging markets was introduced. The success of the ranching industry also created unexpected issues. As more ranchers moved into Texas, the range became crowded.

Detailed explanation-5: -The spread of barbed wire enabled farmers to shift more of their lands to these higher value crops and raised productivity on land by roughly 30 percent. It will come as little surprise, then, that barbed wire also caused a rapid and substantial rise in the value of land across the Plains.