Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-03-10
TIE BEEF QUESTION.
from the 0rsgo.ias.l


So. ia nothing uncommon In the
me EXPRESSION, Swallowed up a
y but at the present prices OF
~ vi IN the city OF Portland-a city that,
years ago, boasted the best ana
- IAaaosst beef IN America 1t begins to
~ - good deal like eating twenty dol
:. n;ecss. On Tuesday of thls week
s.,rbsr in the north end OF the city sent
ou homer knight OF the cieaver, doing
W. o;ness ia the south end of town, for a
ss;cs roast, saying, send me the bes.
e nound roast you have got and I'll
yeu retail price for it, The butch
r,ssrped his frs,s dc i0i1 % cents a
ssnd for it. What the consumer paid
roald be a startling question.
T.ya wears ago, before the hungry
r.ns,s men began coming In here to
- cattle for shipment to New York
=. cheysnue, there Was no ready sale
.s.syrraes beef cattle 1T $14 per head.
vnv the same grade of beasts command
s.o,o S42 10 $50 per head delivered any
Isara within 2U0 uiles of Portland.
s.reral casses have conspired to bring
sho,,t these results. rss IS the Increase
q agriculture, which renders the land
"a viluable 10 bo used for pasturage.
.,d o.,llcas as to send away out on the
ni.ius for our beef. Second. tho great
s ss.,ms in the wiater of 1880 81, which
Jss,roved So per cent. of the cattle in
vsr;ma. rs per cen in klickitat, G2 per
ant in Wasco and 55 in Umatilla and
Walla Walla, thereby greatly decreasing
sha snpply of prass-fed beef. Third, the
,.,aaence of from cUJ0 to l0,O01 railroad
iaborers in cattle-prodrclng section,
giving breeders home market at such
rrices as make it comparatively urprofit-
sble TO drive their stock to Portland for
sale.
an isolated individual in his avocation,
and has sought refuge from civilization
At every possible chance. In early days
the Willamette ard Umpqua valleys
we're full of breeders who drove cattle
both north and south for markets, the
Yreka mines and Puget Sound pineries
being the extreme points. As immigra-
tion began TO fill up the State and tho
flame of Oregon wheat was noised
abroad, the Old-timers began to look
elsewhere for pasturage; and out of ehis
grew the settlement of what Is now
Crook county by people mainly from
Linn and Polk. And ever since that
time it has been 30 that there has been
no diversified farming. The cattle
man had no time to milk cows-hence
be bought his butter and wont without
milk altogether. He also paid cash for
-four and other necessaries of life. On
the other hand the grain grower bought
everything hut wheat, and often paid rs
high as six months interes. on his
butchers bill.
This Is all wrong, from top to bottom.
The man who lives in the country
should milk his COWS and make his own
butter. He should save the COWS and
geld the male calves. These could be
LET run at large till the winter after they
are two years old, when they should be
kept and stall-fed on hay. pampkins.
bset root and little grain. At the
present prices of beef, this way OF dis
20 ing Of the hay, grain and roots pro-
-duced on a farm, will pay better than
shipping grain to Liverpool and paying
for sacks storage, insurance and freight.
A man living nsir Buena Vista recently
fattened four old steers that had been
worked down poor. He fed them we'll
through December and January, and
sold them for S72 apiece. Ii he had
turned them ont to talie their chances,
they probably would have died, for
they were used up with hard work.
Over in Washington Territory, on the
rich, ailuvial flats south of Seattle, they
arc pursuing this avocation with tho
greatest success. Those lands will pro-
duce Iearly three tons OF hay TO the
acre, or If planted in sugar beets
will yield about 2i0 bushels TO the
acre. These beets, if chopped with hay
and steamed in u wooden vat which any
farmer can make in two hours, and use
fir bark for fuel, will yield enormous
profits on the carcass of tho beef. With
cattle worth $40 per head, rs was the
case ten years ago, it did not pay to
feed them. At present prices, it is the
best use to which land can be put.
Aman can buy cattle in Illinois Just
as in Oregon, but in that State he must
pick up four or five at time, whereas
IN Oregon he can buy them all of one
man. In Illinois every farmer picks
over his corn and sends the choice lot
market for cash. The "nubbins'' he
has ground up, cob aud all, and feeds
them either to his hogs or his cattle;
and generally he has few head OF
each. Whatever manure il made by
these animals goes back upon the land;
and 30 the State retains its wealth, its
farmers keeping thu money at home
and paying cash for nothing that the
land will produce.
We must come to this in Oregon,
sooner or later, aud we know Of no bet
ter time than the present. Give year
Of rest to some of the lands that have
been planted incessantly with wheat
for the past twelve years, and try the
virtue OF beet roots to stall-fee some
cattle for next winter. You will lind
the cash coming in on you in the dark
winter days when you need II, and what
ever YOU get from the butcher will be
payable at your own door, without com
missions, storage. Insurance.. sacks, or
any other drawbacks. The day of zone
crop" farming in Oregon is gone by; SO
don't be too long in finding il out. The
farmer who would keep the sheriif's red
dag away from his door, must produce
that will grow on the farm
and bring him IL money.
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