Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-02-15
KANSAS CORN AND CATTLE.
Why Maize is Used for Fuel Instead Of
Being Fed to Stock, Etc.

There never was such a Corn crop in the
history of the world as the yield Of 1882" said
MIR. II. A. Heath Of Topeka, Kan, to a STAR
reporter yesterday evening. Mr.. Heath ought
to know what he is talking about, for he is the
manager of the Kansas Farmer and Is the Kan
sas agent of the United States bureau Of animal
industry. I'VE are using corn in Kansas" said
he, because it is just as cheap as coal and
makes mighty good fuel. The price of . ton Of
coal is perhaps little less than the market
value OF a ton of corn, but when the farmer
figures up the hauling Of the corn to town and
the hauling back Of the coal he comes out
about even. He saves labor and wear and tear
on his team by staying on his farm. Out in
western Nebraska I saw millions of bushels Of
corn stacked on the soil from whence it had
sprung, utterly useless because there was NO
profitable market for it. There is no money in
feeding 1t to cattle or hogs; prices are too low.
AN AGRICULTURAL PUZZLE.
"What makes the price of cattle SO low?"
"Thafs something Of q puzzle. 1t looks .
good deal like beef combine, but it is hard to
prove it. For nearly three years past the graz
ing has been exceptionally good and the cattle
have been free from disease. Yet three-year-
olds-female-and aged cows sell for an aver
age that Is no greater than S12 a head Cattle
men are selling now to reduce their herds or to
go out OF the business. Do you know that
100000 head of cattle, large proportion Of
them young heifers and cows. have been
shipped to Kansas City and Chicago within the
past twenty months? In 1889 there were
329,27 head shipped abroad double the ex-
port of the previous year-and valued at
25,673, 366. These went mostly during the last
SIX months of the year. Doyou see what am
driving att There is an enormous increase in
export, and continuous endeavor to decrease
the supply. The result will be
HIGHER PRICES SOON.
hear that Secretary Noble contemplates Or
dering the cattlemen off the Cherokee strip by
the LIST of June. If that is done it means 500, :
600 head Of cattle thrown right into the mar
ket. There is no range that will accommo-
date them; the Panhandle is full.
'One of the most interesting features of the
cattle business is the fact that the general pub
lie, the small buyers at wholesale of slaugh-
tered meats and the consumers, pay Just as
much for beef now as they did when the price
OF cattle on the hoof was twice as great as it is
now. Somebody is laying up treasure. The
law OF supply and demand seems to cut No
ngure. Kansas farmers are turning their at
tentlon to other branches of their business.
Horse and mule raising is becoming popular
and there Is money in sheep. We are going to
be great sugar producing state, too, in a
little while. There was no profit in that until
recently. An expensive plant could only work
two or three months on all the cane that could
De raised near 1t, but now We know that the
same machinery will make beet sugar and that
puts the industry on its fee:. The beets can be
stored away until the cane harvest has been
disposed of. That gives long sugar-making
season. Wen supply the country with sacha-
rine matter before long,"