The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1890-05-22

includes cattle In the Indian Ter
ritOry not reported by The depart
ment Of agriculture.
That cattle are too cheap and the
numbers greatly In excess Of require
ments, IL ineontrovertlble; and it Il
equally true that the increase has,
Of late years, been almost wholly In
the Missouri valley and the range
regions, where cattle subsist, winter
and summer, upon the untaxed grass
of the public domain. IL 10 the eat
tie from these free pastures and the
new farms OF the Missouri valley
that have 30 Over-stocked the market
aud depressed prices.
Much can be found In the table Ia
Indicate the increase has become
very slow, IL Il has not virtually
ceased, especially in the Atlantic.
lake and southern groups; and this
becomes the more apparent when 10
10 known that Of the increase shown
In these three districts, amounting To-
BiI ,6TT animsls, no less than 5I2 SO
were cows kept for dairy purposes.
In Iowa, Missouri, Kansas aud Ne
braska, the increase In all grades ~
cattle, from 1855 to lssg, was 80, I:Ei
Of which i2l, 30s were milch COWS;
aud the net increase I'm the Pacific
states since lssO, IL hut ll9, 80. Prac-
tically the only increase since lSsl,
i'm cattle other than such "a are kept
for dairy purposes, has been in the
range country; there the increase
has been great, aud statistics fail to
show that Il has ceased.
Throughout the greater part OF the
range country, the valleys are being
occupied by farmers, thus forcing
the eattlemsn and their herds away
from the water aud compelling re-
mOyal to other pastures. This
croHding out process has been going
on for years, and has greatly re-
| stricted the available pasturage.
Moreover, many ranges have been
SO oYer-stocked ~ To destroy the
grass, which has been replaced by u
worthless growth Of grass.
The severe storms uf the winter Of
1856 were disastrous to the herds
Oh the northern ranges, destroy ing
great numbers Of cows and younger
animals; aud such losses will now
be felt In n diminishing supply of
steers from these districts. Finan-
| cial distress among the owners of
range cattle has been extreme, fore
| ing the marketing OF every possible
animal, old or young, male or Ge-
male; and this has greatly redured
the rate Of increase i'm such herds.
Indeed, many entire herds have been
| shipped to market as fast ~ trans
pOrtatiOn could be had. This IL es-
pecially true OF the cattle held Ia the
Indian Territory. such excessive
marketing has made the supply ap-
pear even more abundant than u H..
During the last four years, cattle
increased Is I per cent, an average
| Of I'll per cent per Auuum but most
| of this increase was In the first two
| years OF the four, the rate Of increase
| In the last two wears being but = I
per cent per annum. Here We see,
| for the first time In many years, y
lower rate Of increase than IL shown
by cattle. Uf the late increase Of
cattle, an unusual proportion are
| mich cows.
Swine being, in large measure, the
product OF the cOrn field, aud rapa-
BILE of being increased at will, do not
call for separate treatment; nor does
| the Oat crop, which H. used almost
wholly rs animal food and can very
largely be replaced by corn.
Possessing a. we do virtual mo
nOpOIy OF the worlds supply Of cot
ton, the demand, nj fair prices, has
been sufficient to absorb the entire
| product; and the demand being like
| ~ To increase more rapidly than the
supply, In consequence of the near
exhaustion Of arabic areas, u IL ust
probable that the American cotton
grower will have tO contend with u
troublesome surplus until the re-
mote day when equatorial Africa
shall enter the markets With Hbun
| dant supplies. IL IL impTacticable,
however, to determine from the con-
ditiOns accompanying the produc-
ton aud marketing OF n portion Of
the staple farm crops, when or how
the desired prosperity will come To
the farmer; but We can doubtless do
80 when we review, a whole, the
fields wherein all the CREST agrirul-
tursl staples are grown.
IL tue present Increase in acreage
we're in the same raj to IIopula-
ton a. in the five yeBT- previous To
lSSD. the annual additions tU the
area under pillow would exceed H.
OOO no acres.
Upon the assumption that the re-
quirements are nov such ~ to EN-
plOy 3 u acres per capita tn produce
the cereals, poiatOe-, hay, tobacco
and cotton CONSUMED mt home, aud
the tobacco, cotton, and animal pro-
duets exported, the preceding table
shows that the troubles Of the far
Iner may be- attributed To tile bring
ing Of two TIany new acres into cut
tivatiOn in the fourteen years ending
In 1851 ard that the process of read
justing the disturbed relations be-
tween production and consumption
has been an operation several years,
as IL clear from the rapidly dimin-
ished quantity Of new land being
employed In the production Of staple
crops.
During the fourteen years prior TO
1855, the increase In cultivated area
was so great that, after assigning the
required 3.l5 acres to each unit of
population, there remsined a surplus
Of %, 24S 900 acres, which was emf
ploye ed In growing products To glut
home aud foreign markets.
Fortunately the arabic lands Ia he
occupied had become 80 very limited
that the additions to the area in cul-
tivatiOn, during the next four years,
were reduced to a yearly average OF
1884, SD acres, as against, =, ls3 rs in
the ten preceding years, the result
being to diminish the acreage in ex-
cess a. home needs from 3D.24s, 90
acres to l., 50. O0J at the end of lsss;
aud n decrease, rather than an iI-
crease, Of such additions of new land
will not, from lSSS to 1894, exceed q
yearly average OF 3,UO.0O acres,
while population will augment at n
rate OF not less than > per cent per
annum. This will, at the end Of 1884,
leave but three acres per capita to
furnish 80 much OF the agricultural
staples as we may then use or sx-
port.
No doubt the aveaRe American
could suhsist upon the product II
less than three acres, as he did prior
IN Is7I hut IN Il very certain he lgRs