Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-22

grower In this way the farmer made his
corn crop highly valuable.
Indeed, so important has the business OF
fattening cattle become in the corn states
that the stock raisers actually buy poor
grade cattle in the open stock yards mar
ket at Chicago. ship them out by rail, feed
them well for three months, and bring them
back at considerable profit.
Recently Chicago has been sending from
$500 to 10000 cattle a week in this way to
the farms. Not only that, but Illinois and
Indiana stockmen have actually been ship
ping cattle to the west from Virginia
bringing the cattle to the food instead of
sending the food to the cattle. This is a
comparatively new development of the in
dustry and at the present high prices for
beef 1t means immense profits to the actual
producer
Extent of the Business.
Few people have any realization OF the
enormous volume OF the cattle business, or
how many persons are affected by the i'm
provement in conditions. In general, every
farmer is stock raiser, although possibly
on small scale. On January l, 1895 ac-
cording to the statistics OF the Department of
Agriculture, the United States possessed
nearly 44,O00,O00 head of cattle, of which
about 100000 were milch cows. At
valuation of s29.66 for the COWS and $22 70
for other cattle the total property would
reach the enormous sum of over 81, 100 ,OOO-
900. or this Texas is the heaviest sharer;
then comes Iowa, and then Missouri. Both
corn and wheat raising are great industries;
but they pale in comparison with the
cattle business. A years crop of corn in the
United States has a value OF about $780,
100000 and that Of wheat $4O0 900 900, more
or less, but there is never a full crop OF
either on hand, because the consumer be-
gins tc eat the wheat and corn and the ex-
porter begins to send them out of the
country as soon as the harvest is over. The
value OF both wheat and corn on hand at
any one time, then, is only a very small per-
centage OF the value of he cattle on hand.
1t Will be seen, therefore. that the re-
turn of good times to the stockman means
much wider distribution of the fruits of
prosperity throughout the country-indeed
much more favorable condition all over
the nation-than a single good wheat or
corn or cotton crop And not only is the
catteman himself profting by the rise in
prices, but the railroad man is doing more
business, for after bringing the lean cattle
to market he may freight them out to the
farmer to be fattened and then back again
to the market, whereas in ordinary times he
| might move them only once.
Room in the Packing Business
In the same way the boom in cattle means
better business for the slaughterers and
packers and for the great numbers OF men
engaged in the business. In Chicago alone
10000 men are employed in the packing
houses and the average annual output 10
valued at more than $3.50, 900 600 And the
! further the price goes UP the more money
will flow into the country, for we feed half
the great nations of the earth from our
surplus, During 1898 we sent abroad nearly
100000 head Of cattle to say nothing Of
81, 600 pounds of canned meat. 275 900 900
pounds Of fresh meat and nearly 45 900 600
pounds Of salt beef. One London agency OF
a Chicago plant handled, during 1898, 423 .76i
quarters of beef 11,725O O45 pounds of pork
product and 7910O pigs, bringing upward OF
! $40 600, nearly all from Great Britain
and Ireland. The cable advices OF late
September quoted choice American steers in
the London and Liverpool markets at ~ and
10 cents per pound, estimated dressed
weight, compared with 9l4 to 1919 cents for
the corresponding week Of 1898. Two and
2 half cents a pound advance on the mill
lions Of pounds exported means an enor-
nous increase OF money flowing into the
United States, and going at that to the pro-
ducer. And with more money and more
business activity the wages OF the ordinary