Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1885-04-08
OUTLOOK FOR DAIRY FARMING
Paper Prepared and Read by Mr.. Jos.
Sampson before the Northwestern
Dairymen's Association,
ut AlgOna. Iowa.

which we are brought face to face at the
present time is that of overproduction.
In nearly every department of human &C.
tivity and effort among the so.called civ.
ilized nations Of the world We find that
through mans energy, supplemented by
steam power and machinery, there has
been created an oversupply OF manufac.
tured products of almost every kind that
can be named. And not only is there an
oversupply Of manufactured articles in
existence, but there is also an excess of
certain grains that are made to serve a
large part of the human family rs food.
With the improvement and increase OF
the machinery and facilities for the pro-
duction and distribution of both manu-
factured articles and food supplies in.
tended for human use and consumption,
| the question of overprpdneticn becomes
most serious one. Wrapped up and in
volved In this question lies the whole
contest now beginning between capital,
with complete organization on the one
hand, and labor, with inefficient organi
zation, on the other The solution and
adjustment of the two sided controversy
now suggested will tax the patience aud
intelligence of the political economist.
the philanthropy st, and the true states
man during the next twenty-five years.
Beyond seas the contest will become
much more serious than with us. In
some of the countries of the Old World
the real difficulties of the situation will
be obscured, owing to the greater mum
Der OF factors entering into the problem.
| Take the situation even at prcsentin Ger
many, in France, and in Great Britain.
Class is being arrayed against class, even
Royalty itself is no longer the sacred
thing 1t was once supposed to be- And
Why? Will the skilled workman out of
! work, hungry and cold, with wife and
ichildren clinging to him crying for bread
the farmer unable to meet his rent owing
TO low prices for his crops, or the unem-
| ployed farm laborer in much worse
| plight than either skilled workman or
farmer, long continue to suffer in silence
| while others seem to be living in ease
and affluence? Bold aud INSCRIPTIONS
agitators will come to the front who will
fan the passions and prejudices Of the
people into flame and with what result
it is hard at present to predict.
! But what has all this to do with dairy
farmings A great deal, for this reason:
Those who engage in dairy farming and
stock raising out in this new country will
want some assurance that the same evils
of overproduction will not follow them
Immediately INTO their new business and
leave them where they are to-day with
| their wheat, their corn, and Their oats.
Many are the arguments used by very In
telligent people, who consider themselves
amply qualified to deal with these ques-
tions authoritatively, all going to show
that very soon we will have no market
for our butter and cheese, and no profit
able outlet for our corn fattcncd steers.
Now in order to reassure our friends and
| ourselves that we are in no immediate
danger of the same overproduction in the
| dairy snd stock raising business that has
overtakeI the wheat farmers of the
world, let us reason the matter out:
1st. There is no magical way of obtain
| ing-as rule-morc than one calf each
year from Il COW. Only about sixty
calves of every one hundred grow to be
one year old. Only about twenty-five
heifer calves out of every hundred cows
are each year allowed to grow up in the
hands Of farmers and become mothers.
Remember We are summarizing for the
small farmers and not referring at pres
| cnt to range cattle. Now the increase of
! population, take the country over for the
last thirty years, has been greater than
the increase of cows, Let us look at the
figures: In 1850, according to the Federal
census, We had "A population of 90. 1871 $40,
and VIC had 6, ,SS5, ,094 cows, or about seven
/ people to every two cows. Meantime be-
tween these two periods named we had a
desolating war lasting over two years
that materially binderel the natural in
crease of population. while we are at lib
erty to suppose that there were no core
spending obstacles in the way of the con
tinuous increase Of the number of head
of cows. By improvement in the breed.
ing and care of cows the average number
of pounds of butter and cheese per head
was raised from about sixtysix pounds
per annum in 1850 10 eighty four pounds
in 1880, If the immigration from foreign
countries continues for the rext thirty
years to be as great as il was during the
past thirty years, we can reasonably cX-
pcct that there will be no essential
change in the relative increase of popu-
lation corresponding to the increase of
cows.
I'd. The average number of pounds of
butter and cheese consumed per head of
population, we find by referring again to
our census of 1850, was about eighteen
pounds. In 1880 1t was found to be only
a little over seventeen pounds per head
pcr annum. Taking the total number of
pounds of butter and cheese produced in
the year 1880 to be 1,049, g39, sci, and
foreign countries for that year,
which were 173, ,346, 527 pounds. we have
left for home consumption S75 49,, 394
pounds. In 1850 there were living in
towns and cities only about twenty peo-
pie out of every hundred of the popula
tion, while in 1880 the number living in
towns and cities had increased to twenty
seven to the hundred. During this time
the taste and wealth of the people grad
ually increased so that better qualities OF
butter and cheese were demanded and
paid for The home demand for fine
butter and good cheese can be stimula
ted and increased during the coming
years in two ways: By making fine
goods and selling ior reasonable prices,
and by vigorous repression in every
felt butter. So then leaving out Of sigh
entirely any English or other foreign
market we can count with absolute Ger
tainty-under the two conditions named
upon reliable, sure, steadily increas
ing home demand for all the butter and
cheese we can possibly supply.
Bird. In connection with our western
dairy enterprises. it must not be forgot
ten that we count on raising our male
calves upon our skim milk and turning
them of at the end of three yerrs as corr
fed steers. Some say we will soon have
this source Of revenue largely decreased
when the range cattle begin TO pour into
the common markets OF the east. OI
thisday eyer coming in our time we ncct
not have the slighte. fear. The western
4 range cattle, with their increase, thcil
fatness, and their profits arc as yet only
4 on paper. Ten YEARS from now we vii
hear little said about range cattle. AL
Il - - L. at -.
ranch schemes win do very well TO catcl
greedy foreign capitalists and will serv.
for . few years as our mining schen el
have done TO keep mp a certain amour
of speculative fever; but it is my carnes
conviction after canyassirg the mattel
with men competent to judge, that tn,
individual farmer will always be the sue
cessful breeder and feeder OF profitable
cattle The competition OF the ranch
men and western range cattle raisers thu
dismissed a. being mythical, we find TIM
L khne sxs,~ khat 3uA y