Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-04-15
WHY BEEF is HIGH
Scarcity of Corn Has an Effect on the
Prices
The Big Stock Ranches No Longer
Paying So Well-CompetitiOn
From Argentine.

The high price of beef Is believed at the
Agricultural Department to be due to the
scarcity of corn. Secretary Morton expects
prompt returns from his circular Of inquiry
sent out last week to secure data in regard
to the alleged beef trust, but aside from
this Fictitious cause of high prices the
state of the corn market must account for
a great part of the situation. Cattlemen
on the western ranches have been holding
back their young stock from the Finish
erS' in the corn belt. For instance, in
New Mexico 10000 cattle are reported for
taxation as against 100000 last year. Ex-
perts say there are 1.Oo0.000 head of beef
cattle in New Mexico. alone, of which one
fourth are ready to ship.
The shortage of corn on account of the
long drouth last year caused many cattle
men in the Mississippi valley to sell pre-
maturely. These cattle that would now
were consumed during the winter, and
stockmen have not sent on enough stock to
take the place of the numbers thus sold.
1t is true that the farmers have used
wheat for cattle food during the depression
of price of this cereal. but the falling eff
of the corn crop may have had more to do
with the rise than anything else. Another
reason for the decrease in the number of
cattle Is given in the fencing in and clos
ing up of many of the stock ranges and
ranches.
Number of Cattle Diminishing.
The settlement of the western states by
small farmers has made stock raising in
great herds less profitable and 1t is said
that the increase in cattle has not nearly
kept pace with the increase in population
of the country. When the price of cattle
was very low and the market crowded it
is supposed that the stockmen sold not
only the steers, but large plumbers of the
females. which would tend to check the
increase in the following years.
The competition in cattle from Argentine
drawback to the cattlemen in this coun-
try. In both countries cattle can be raised
much more cheaply than In the United
States. The great plains Of these coun-
tries have not been invaded by settlers.
The cattle may roam at wilf as they did
for twenty-five years in the western part
of this country. Labor cuts but a small
figure, but that which is necessary is much
cheaper In both Argentine and Australia
than in the United States
Competition From Argentine.
This same official said that Argentine was
the great agricultural rival of the United
States. 1t was far enough south of the
equator to grow all food products produced
in the United States. They are opening up
a country such as the United States was
twenty-five years ago, starting where We
did then, but with all the modern improve
ments and the experience which this coun-
try has given them. In the harveSts the
Argentine has the advantage of cheap la
Dor. Shiploads of Italians are brought
over at every harvest and returned after
the harvest is over. 1t takes eighteen days
to make the trip, but the labOrerS are car
ried cheaply, and it Is found profitable by
the land owners. 1t Is still question
whether the great farm owners. with all the
advantages of cheap labor and the conces-
sions granted by the Argentine govern
ment, will be able to make a lasting success
of their agricultural ventures. The big
bonanza farmers of the west have found
that they could not make a success Of
their operations, and it is now the policy
of most of them to divide their farms up
and sell them, and if they are not able to
sell, to lease them.