The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-04-06
eRAzINe AND DAIRY PRODUCTS.


The Prospects for the Future-yvhat
aIay lie Done in the Way Of Raising
Cattle.
When iar-off Western farmers com.
plain that despite their great crops Of
breadstuffs they make no money, says
the New York Times, they seem TO for.
get that cereals can only be proitably
grown within a,oertain distance from
the sea-ports. AS prices are fixed by
! the European markets, it is clear that
in any locality SO faroff that the cost OF
transportation added 10 that Of produc.
tion would eat up the value Of the
grain, cereals can only be grown for
domestic use. None the less, however,
can land beyond these well.ascertained
limits be put to o profitable use. In
Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas,
and New Mexico, there is some Of the
finest grazing land in the world, and
large tracts OF country that, indeed, are
ct for no other purpose. Where land
Is cheap and plsturage good, there Is
hardly any farm work that pays better
than raising cattle. Therefore IL is
that the growth Of this business in
Texas, Kansas, and some Of the other
districts alluded to, has been very great
recently, and the profits have been est-
mated in some quarters rs high as thirty
per cent. upon the capital invested.
In the near future, this industry is
likely TO assume still larger proper
tions.
There is every encouragement for its
growth. Meat is Mt o high price in all
the Eastern and Middle States. Per-
haps the decline in the number Of cat
tie, occasioned by the great army con-
sumption during the rebellion, has not
been made good, certainly speculators
and forestallers have greatly controlled
the trade, The transportation OF cattle
on the hoof from far.of regions might
be so expensive as to prevent any relief
from that quarter, but the experience
OF this winter in the transportation Of
meat in refrigerator cars holds out
hopes that a supply Of meat may be OBJ.
tained in this or in some similar way
from the West, sufficient in quantity 70
lower prices here. II the cattle are in
abundance in that section, Yankee in
genuity can be safely trusted TO devise
the means Of getting the meat here in
good order. Even an inferior article in
abundant supply would be welcomeda as
long as IL is fresh and sweet.
But entirely apart from the question
Of q meat supply for the East, cattle
might be raised in the far West fol
their hides. The country can use all
/, the hidesthat can be furnished, and the
growth Of the domesticthide trade fol
the last few years, although encour'
aging, has not been what IL might have
been. The demand for leather, bott
here and abroad, is necessarily on the
increase, so that prices can hardly fail
10 be remuneratiye. In the West itself,
there is a constantly growing demand
for leather for boots, shoes, harness,
etc., which must increase with the
rapid growth Of that section and OF Its
manufacturing interests. Why should
foreign hides be sent West, at heavy
transportation charges, when that sec
tion cannot only abundantly supply
herself, but ship her oyerplus to us
( There seems tobe no reason why, with
q suitable stimulus given to produc'
tion, our existing foreign trade in hides
should not be largely diminished in
favor Of the home article.
AS for dairy products, in both butter
and cheese, high prices stare consum-
era in the face, and nothing but largely
increased production will suffice "a
lower them. The cheese factory has
revolutionized the manufacture OF that
article TO great advantage, both in the
quality and quantity Of the product.
It's very clear that il the hand press
had been retained, we would not have
exported such large amounts Of 1t. The
hutter factory seems destined to work
q similar though not by any means so
great q change. Many farmers wives
did not know how TO mike good butter,
and the difficulty with the butter mar
ket has been rather in matter OF quail.
ty than quantity. With butter fac
tory in the neighborhood, all that is
needed is TO raise and milk the cattle;
the factory stands prepared to take the
milk, and either pay for II or give an
equivalent in butter made by o careful
process. There are, of course, draw.
backs to the factory system which need
not be enumerated here, and there are
large butter districts where ii is as yet
entirely unknown; but IL is fast gaining
ground. To sum up the whole matter,
the grazing interests are being rapidly
developed .at the West, and there Is
every. reason to believe that eastern
farmers are equally alive 10 the proprie-
ty Of substituting profitable dairy pro-
ducts for Improbable cereals. We can,
therefore, indulge in hope that meat,
hides, butter, and cheese are hereafter
likely to be more abundant, and that
the average quality Of butter will be
improved.