Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-03-12
rmE REEF

the meal, or the bread question h
is touching upon a topic that lie.
near a mans-stomach. IL the fol,
lowing extract from the buffalo
Courier Is correct, it is time we Sc.
riOusly went to work to provide {
better meat supply for the rapidly
Increasing population. Bread and
meat is indeed a vital question, and
one not to be overlooked with i'm.
punity.
Here in the South, with ouI
broad acres, perpetual grasses and
underground, together with sucE
excellent waterage, we should have
thousands Of "seal fat" cattle roam,
over our hills and vallies. We
ought to have beef here in Vicks,
burg at ten cents a pound, at the
highest, whereas It Is about, OIL
more than double that, aud tough
as an old shoe" at that.
There is no telling how impor.
tant to us socially and politically
is the worth Of good aud cheap
beef. If We have sweet, juicy, ten.
der and cheap beef, one will eat
plenty Of it and thus get fat and SO
be good humOred aud then politics
wont bother him and he will attend
only to his own business, and make
money, and grow rich and raise a
large and healthy family, aud the
whole land would prosper aud b.
happy oil through good beef
bought eheapIy.
But here is the extract:
A Kansas correspondent of the
Chicago Republican, IN a review
of the cattle trade, gives rather a
startling account Of the lovers of
beef. he says that the number OF
beef cattle in Texas, whence the
chief supplies comes. is not near so
large as recent statements made il.
II has been given out and generally
understood that Texas now con-
tains three or four times as many
cattle as at the close Of the war, but
such Is not the case. The agricul-
tural department gave the number
Of cattle in Texas in 1866 as Sill,
475, while the latest departmental
estimates, giving the number in
February, 1860, place it at 1851, 1888,
head. This Is q decrease OF Ala, 1877
m three years. The census also
shows that not only Texas, but all
the southern states and most OF the
northern states, contain a much
smaller number Of cattle than the
did ten years back.
The assertion is made that while
the population has increased fully
thirty three per cent. within the
past ten years, the number of neat
cattle has actually decreased TWEEN.
~ per cent, aud Notwithstanding
The increased price of meat, the sup
ply is constantly growing less
abundant. In 1860, with a pOpnla-
lion of 3l,4l7 ,33l, We had 25,Gl0,-
33I neat cattle in the country ;
while now, with Il population OF
over IO,0O0,O00, according to the
report OF the department OF Agri-
culture, we have but 2l.6l3,069,
showing u net decrease, since 1860,
OF more than 4,OO0,U0O animals,
when ~ preserve the ratio OF cattle
to the population we should have
had an increase of about 100000.
There now exists an actual deficit
in the supply OF One.third, there
being at this time, about u animals
to each 100 people, instead of 50, to
preserve the proper ratio. The
supply Of beef is even less album
dant than these figures show, as
there are 500 0O0 more mich cows
than there were IN 1860, notwilh-
standing the great decrease IN the
total number of cattle,
The cause OF this extraordinary
decrease in neat cattle is said to be
owing to the rapid extension Of dai.
ry farming. In 1850 the mich
cows were thirty-foSr per cent. of
the whole, now they are forty.three
per cent. yet the ratio OF mich
cows to the population has greatly
decreased in the last ten years. II
has also stated that there are
scarcely half as many sheep in the
country as there were four years
buck.