Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-07

Swim - l02. 81 CTS 32i SOP 5Ti
The prices above given are net those for
any particular locality. but an average for
The entire country IRON Maine, Alabama
and Oregon. The variation is very great
according TO locality.
II is = rather singular fact that tie price
OF beef cattle as reported on the LIST of
January last Is lower than it has ever
been since the records were kept
IN" lowest mark ever reaC he'd in the price
OF ranch cattle before 1906 was in ISL
when the average touched S11.5J per head
mi, WAS attributed to the action of the
raLchmeu of Colorado, who, becoming dis
oouraEed by the severe losses from the
weather experienced during a Succession of
years. and by the action of the govern
ment in requiring all fences to be removed
from the public lands. threw their cattIe
on the market for any price they could get
and went INTO other business. There was
"a succession of low prices for tEat and SIM
ilar reasons from 1Sp to 1888.
Highest Prices in 1885.
High-water mark in the price of ranch
cattle-that is other. than dairy cows-was
req ched in 1885. when the average per head
was $26.23 and in 1900, when the average
was S%itI. The latter year was followed
by scarcity of corn. the crop being not
more than two-thirds of the normal
amount As a consequence. many farmers
rushed 10 market with their beef cattle
and the supply being greater than the de-
mand. there was an immediate drop of IS
per head. from S33.47 to $3.50. and con-
tinued depression of prices until the mini
mum was reached January /, 1905. the low
est point in third of a century. the low
eS. ever recorded.
In the meantime he price Of steers per
100 pounds at the Chicago stock yards de-
pTtciated somewhat in sympathy with farm
values, but the price of fresh beef In the
wholesale market at New York has con-
tinued TO rise There must be some rea-
son why the value of beef on the farm
bf1lli 90 Hnyrn Gn mir md In ha mi r.
ket 1t should go up so rapidly, but the sta
tisticians at the Agricultural Department
are not able to make it clear. They give the
figures, which they gather from the most
reliable sources. but they do not furnish
rex sons to explain them.
Patterned beef cattle, having been sold by
.he farmers in Iowa, Kansas, Texas and
other states to middlemen, are shipped by
rail to the stock yards at Chicago, Kansas
City. Omaha and other places, and are
there sold to the big packing firms. ia
miliarly known as the beef trust. who are
now on trial in the courts at Chicago for
invading the rights of the public. The
prices OF steers are fixed at the Chicago
stock yards, and are supposed to be gov
erned largely by the supply and demand.
Nobody seems to understand. or at least
no enc has ever offered a satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION to how and why there should
be such a variation. Mean annual prices of
beef cattle per 100 pounds have been COM
puted at the Chicago stock yards for
twenty-six years, but am admonshed that
the years 1901 and 1902 should be excluded
from consideration because of the failure
OF the corn crop during the previous years
which created an abnormal and unusual
situation.
The Stock Yard Prices.
Upon taking the latest year OF high prices
OF cattle (l90o). when the prices of steers
upon the farm reached the maximum, and
comparing 1905 with it. it appears that the
average farm price of beef cattle decreased
from $S9.47 to Sl9.42, or $14O5 per head.
which IL about ~ per cent. At the same
time, the stock yards price OF the same
steer decreased from 40 to S4.94-only 40
cents. little more than per cent.
Then If you go TO New York and take the
mean annual price OF fresh beef per 100
pounds paid by retail dealers to the agents
OF the beef trust and compare 1900 with
1905. you Will find that there is an increase
from $500 to SS.44 or about per cent.
During the three years from IeN3 to 1905