The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-03-27

To the Editor of the Dallas Herald:
The means ofprOducing food cheaply,
a principle which the Creator, in His
infinite wisdom, it seems, is now i'm
pressing upon the minds of the people,
by the establishment and widespread
dissemination of this system. The
question of food in all densely pop
ulated communities is one that under
lies all others. No nation can rise to
the highest civilization and power
without her people are supplied with
an abundance of
CHEAP AND NUTRITIvE FOOD.
Where food is scarce or is wanting
in nutrition, there you will find poverty,
squalid wretchedness, decentralization
and crime-elements Of weakness, OPP
posed to progress and civilization.
Food nourisbes not only the body but
the brain, and the cheapness and
abundance of good food has had much
to do in the rapid progress and active
development of mind among the Amer
lean people. But our population is in
oreasing with wonderful rapidity.
AS our population increases there
will be scarcity of meats for the cup
ply of our people. Some other form of
animal food must he substituted In
part, at least, for beef, and the question
is becoming every year more and more
urgent as to how it can be produced
cheaply. And, In my opinion, we
must look to the dairy as the chief
means of solving this question. can
illustrate this more satisfactorily, per-
haps, by drawing a comparison be-
tween
THE RELATIVE COST OF PRODUCING
BEEF AND CHEESE.
A steer which produces or weighs
one thousand five hundred pounds at
four years must be n good animal, and
will yield, say one thousand pounds Of
meat. Three steers at four years, on
the above assumption, would produce
5000 pounds of beef. Now, a good
COW will yield from five hundred to
six hundred pounds Of cheese per year.
Deducting the first two years in which,
as a heifer, she yields nothing, We
have four thousand five hundred
pounds of good, wholesome animal
food. In other words, three steers, at
four years old, representing twelve
years. growth for beef, amounts to
three Thousand pounds, while one COW,
twelve years for cheese, four thousand
five hundred pounds.
But pou ad of cheese, equal in nu-
triton to two pounds of beef, would
make the differences still greater, giving
for the dairy nine thousand pounds Of
food nythe one hand, against three
thousa nd pounds of meat on the other.
Then there is cost of cooking and bone
to be charged against the beef, which,
as will be seen, adds further to the ex-
pense of that kind of food.
The economical use Of food Is not
well understood by the majority of
people, aud perhaps there is no food in
general use, the nutritive value of which
is more underestimate than that OF
milk. Indeed, many people regard IL
more as a luxury than,as afiording any
substantial nourishment, like that OBJ
tanned from meat or vegetables. MIX
is often used spariDgly, under the inn
preston that It must always be an ex-
pensive article of food, when in fact il
is generally cheaper than any meats
that can be had in the market; and we
believe that IL its Dutritive value, as
compared with beef, was more gener-
ally understood. il would be more
largely consumed as q matter Of econ
omy.
Twill close for the present, but pro
pose to pursSe the subject on associated
dairying further hereafter.
H@' =
tIox. s. q. MAxEY, UnIted Etsiss
[- stste, has or tharks