Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-22

beef would soon go down again. And thus,
two months ago, when the demand began to
be sharp, they were compelled to put up their
prices suddenly, to the CONSERVATION Of the
consumers.
In this connection II may be we'll to OBJ
serve that most of the retail advance has
been made on the choice cuts of the beef
the roasts and the steaks-the food of the
rich man, whereas the percentage of increase
on the poorer cuts, the food of the great
middle classes, is small.
Cause of the Decrease.
There are several reasons why the number
Of cattle has been decreasing. The first and
most important of these Is the failure Of mil
lions OF acres of grazing land in the west
because of its having been over-pastured. On
some OF the semi-ard ranges the grass has
actually been eaten out, roots and all, ana
the stockmen are compelled to drive their
herds far into almost inaccessible valleys
among the mountains. Sheep have also been
crowding the cattle out, and settlers are
coming in and fencing the ranges.
In seven years the great cattle state OF
Texas has suffered decrease in it's herds
of $500, 900 head or nearly quarter of the
whole decrease in the United States. Cuba
has also lost heavily, owing largely to the
war In 1895 she had $50 900 CATTLE and now
she has fewer than $4,000. And the de-
crease still continues all over the country, in
spite of higher prices and greater demand.
All this would seem to indicate at first
glance a very unsettled and unsatisfactory
| condition of the cattle industry, but the
facts show quite the contrary. The cattle
! business has never been more prosperous
! than 1t is at this moment-indeed, Its pros
perity Is hardly short of amazing. 1t Is Just
; at the edge of a new era. The day OF the
| vast range herd Is past and the day OF the
small herd, carefully bred and judiciously
fattencd, has come In reply to question
as to the conditions in Wyoming, Senator
4 Francis f. Warren of that state has this
/ to say OF the cattle industry:
! 'The livestock business in the west was
never on a more substantial basis. The in
dustry Is rapidly passing from large to
! small holdings The big herds formerly
ranged upon the open plains are being d.
vided into small ones and are now owned
by many small ranchmen in place Of few
4 large ones The cattle are ranged upon the
! free grazing lands of the plains during the
summer and pastured and fed during winter.
/ This method CT conducting the business
eliminates the risk and speculative features
which characterized the earlier history OF
the live stock industry and, combined with
ldIllllHS, uthtS IL oic VI thS iiiNSh
tal and profitable of the industries of the
state"
Passing of the Texas Steer.
The long horned, wild-eyed, gaunt Texas
steer, so familiar to the markets a few years
ago, is passing away and his place is being
taken by the plump. hornless corn-fed AM
NAL OF Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Ne
braska. This year there will be the larg-
est crop OF corn in the history of the country,
The farmers OF the corn states will raise
nearly 100000 900 bushels of it and the
value OF 1t will exceed $500, 100000. Corn
cannot be shipped the world over and sold
like wheat and so it must be converted into
beef pork and mutton, and here is where
the farmer makes his great profits, In the
fall he buys large number of cattle, brings
them to his farm. fattens them on his corr
and sells them a few months later at a bis
advance and they have left behind the fer
tilizer which will make his fields produce
another big crop. single instance viii
illustrate this business and its profits Or
September 20 an Indiana farmer sent seven
teen head OF cattle to the Chicago Stocl
Yards market. They had been fattened or
corn and they averaged 1856 pounds. Their,
was lively bidding for them and they fnall!
sold for $500 a hundred pounds-the high
est September price paid in fifteen years
The average price per steer was, therefore
slos.43 and they yielded large profit to tn