The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-06

How many people who sit down to a
juicy steak or well cooked beef roast stop
to think how many miles away the ami
NAL from which 1t was cut was raised and
fattened?
i few years ago the beef that supplied
the Washington dinner or breakfast table
was fed and butchered almost within sight
Of the National Capitol. In those days
every farmer raised beeyes, sheep, and
hogs. and every town and village was sup
piled by the local butcher, who siaugh-
tered his own meat
That is all changed now and our beef
Genes from the ranges and pasture lands
Of the far West, some OF them 5000 miles
away. At first it was the cheapness with
which cattle could be raised on the range
that sent the beef industry to our West
ern pastures and plains, and now the high
price of farm lands precludes its return.
Time was when the States east Of the
Mississippi River teemed with herds of
lowing kline. Now one may travel for
miles and not see a stock farm In Mis-
souri, and Iowa one may still see large
punches of cattle, but he must go 100 miles
west of Kansas City to find a genuine
range. A few years ago the herdsman had
comparatively no limit to his grazing
range, but today he fines every township
divided. Day by day the range area is
being diminished, and ere many decades
the extensive grazing lands that now af-
ford pasture for millions OF beeves will
be turned into corn and wheat fields, with
cattle pastures sandwiched in between.
What will be the probable effect upon
the supply and price of our meats? During
the past three years the price of fresh
beef mutton. and pork has advanced over
10 per cent. and has rot yet reached the
maximum Thirty years ago men could
raise cattle in Texas at a small profit, even
though they slaughtered solely for their
hides and tallow, dumping the carcasses
into-the Gulf OF Mexico. Today, to bring a
steer to a condition for beef costs an
amount that leaves but a small margin to
its owner when sold to the packer.
The coming crisis in our meat supply
may not be apparent 10 the unthinking.
but to the man who looks ahead its shadow
is already on the land. Great Britain once
produced her own beef. Today her people
are dependent on America and Australia.
Drawing a conclusion from this We may
easily imagine a time when America will
be no longer able 10 expert no longer able.
in fact, to meet the home demand at prices
poor men are able to pay. Can We in
crease cur facilities for raising cattle,
hogs, or sheep? Can we depend on cur
poultry pens and fish ponds to make up
the deficit? If we cannot We must turn
our attention to some other source of
supply.
Here is where the Belgian hare comes
in. 1t comes affording a tender, clean,
and wholesome substitute for beef Its
enemies object to It because it is prolific
We're it not so it would not I'll the bill
for quantity. They declare that it will
prove destructive to trees and shrubbery,
evidently not aware of the fact that it
does much better in close confinement
than when running at large that no in
formed breeder will ever think of turning
it out. Besides, an animal like that, run
ming at large, is no mans property, while
the ownership is unquestioned' so long as
it has a keeper. They say the hare will
overrun the country. That only verifies
the hope that those who come after us
may always be blessed with "a full dinner
pail