Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-05-13
GOOD STOCK MARKET.
SOuth Carolina Has Great Possibili-
ties Within Its Grasp.


which is now in progress, the ques-
tion of getting the animals needed
for working the farms and hauling
the produce either to market or to
the shipping points, Is Of almost as
much Importance as the labor prob
lem. In fact they run hand in hand,
and one without the other Is of no
use. The South now has all the ami
mails needed, but from the following
extract from report of the Depart
ment OF Agriculture it will be seen
THAT we are paying high prices for
animals and also for feed for them,
both Of which we could raise in the
South and get a higher grade Of
both:
ut certainly seems anomalous to
contemplate vast section Of our
country spending millions annually
for horses and mules, for beef and
pork, and for commercial fertilizers,
sand selling hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of fertility as cotton
seed meal and cake, when we realize
that the condition Of soil and climate
generally throughout the South are
excellent for animal production. This
condition Is still more surprising
when we know that, properly fed,
rcotton seed meal is probably the
most valuable protein-bearing feed
Hthe country produces, and that its
fertilizing value after having gone
4 uh II,
AS great as it's feed value 1t is
also more than passing strange that
a Southern farmer will buy hay
shipped from the West at from SIS
to $23 per ton when his own land
will often yield more hay per acre
than the land where the Western
hay was produced and of as good
quality"
According to figures of the bureau
nof stat'"tics Of the Department Of
Agriculture, there were 83,026
horses in South Carolina on January
L, 1907. These horses had total
farm valuation Of $1O,437,1S2, an
average Of $126 a head. On the
same date there were 1874 $50 mules
In the State with total farm value
tnf '$2O,59S,121, an average OF $153
"A head.
George NJ. Rommel, Of the bureau
'Of animal industry, has studied the
situation in South Carolina, and by
his calculations, the average life OF a
horse in South Carolina from the
time he is mature may be estimated
at eight years and that Of a mule at
ten years. The stock Of horses and
mules must be replaced once in eight
ear ten years, respectively; or, to
express 1t differently, 10000 horses
and 1900 mules must be raised or
brought into the State annually.
There are three reasons why
South Carolina farmers should raise
their own horses and mules" says
Mr.. Rommel. "The first Is to keen
within the State the great sum which
bs paid annually for stock shipped in
lIeom the North and West. 1t IS es-
tamated that probably about two
EIhousand Of the horses and one
Gthousand Of the mules used annu-
ally are raised in the State. Estimat-
ing & cost of the horses delivered
tfn the South Carolina farmer at $125
leach and the mules at SITS each
%Lhe amount Of money sent out Of the
state annually is $1,00O,0O0 for
4norses and $1.925, 900 for mules
$3,OOO,000 in round numbers, which
could be retained in the State to
good advantage.
THE second reason is that by pro-
"1ucing its own horses and mules the
South has stock already adapted to
21ts use. No time is lost in getting
SAn animal to do the best under
%ySouthern conditions. Furthermore,
2Ehey would be produced at cost with
cont having to include in the expense
S0ill "a profit to another producer or
middleman. Not only that, but after
@a.'nurse or mule Is two years old he
viii earn his way, and a moderate
amount OF work Is good for him. In
this way the animal has been raised
Ito .fve years Of age at a minimum
.,Isost."
Mr.. Rommel also points out in de-
ttail the great importance of know
fipg ali about the breeding of an ami
mil E.#.
1.-The third reason why the South