The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1898-02-10
AGreat Evil.

/ 4 "A
| Prof. Thos. Shaw, of the Min nesota
School of Agriculture, in recent ad.
dress spoke strongly of the folly of toe
many of our farmers in selling their
young stock to, stock growers in other
states, and selling the grain that should
have been consumed by them upon the
farms. He said:
In my Judgment no mistake is being
made by the farmers of the west today
that is costing themso much as that OF
selling live stock from off the farms
while young and lean. 1t is costing
the northwest every year many times
more than it is paying for govern
ment, for education or for the support
of churches. Yes, it is costing more
than is paid for all of these combined.
And in addition to the direct loss of
income from the sale of these animals
in the form mentioned, there is a loss
of fertility from year to year that Is
appalling to contemplate. To show
that these statements are not mere as
sertions, but painfully true, will be my
aim in this paper.
OF all the states in the northwest our
own is unquestionably the greatest Of
fender in the sale of live stock from
off the farm while young and there is
no estimating what this infatuation in
pratice is costing us since the exact
figures which bear upon the shipments
are not all available During recent
years it has been part of my duty to
the state to take part in the work being
conducted by the farmers institutes.
The travel thus necessitated furnished
an elegant opportunity to look into
the question: I tried to improve the
opportunity seldom failing to inquire
of the station agent where an insti-
tute was held as to the shipment OF
cattle, young and lean, from the farms
in the neighborhood. And during
those several seasons of inquiry have
found but few stations in all Minneso ta
from which such shipments were not
being made every year. The ship
ments would usually vary from
single carload to a score, and in some
instances from one to two hundred ami
mails would thus be shipped away in
single year. From LIE Sueur, for in
stance, only about Sky miles from st.
Paul, the shipment in a single year
have a amounted to l,500 head, and
in Albert Lea to. a number consider
ably larger. And this spoliation ct
the land is not going on along a single
line of railway, but more or less along
every line of railway within the stat.
Mr.. S. L. Moore has stated that IN
two of the spring months of 1897, no
fewer than 16, 900 head of young cattle
were shipped out of the state from
stations along the line OF the Northern
Pacific. And doubtless the shipments
along the line of the Great Northern
were equally great. From the data
that has been gathering from various
s Ourcas. have come to the conclusion
that during recent years our state has
every year shipped away at least l.
OOO, 900 head of cattle of ages varying
from six to twenl y four months. Those
animals have hot been shipped to the
markets to be slaughtered. Many
have gone to the ranges OF the west to
be further grown there, or to farmers
of the states lying in the south aud
southwest, to be grown and finished
for market. The computation takes
no notice of the many thousand in
addition of nOn-mature animals that
are sent to the markets in the lean or
form.