Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1909-05-26
BEEF INDUSTRY Is NEGLECTED
IN THE SOUTH.
Writer Of Opinion That Too Much I'm
portance Has Besn Attached to
the Cotton Crop-Facts
Worth Consideration.

Recently there was published IN
the Atlanta Constitution two articles
giving almost opposite views of the
cattle industry in Georgia. Mr.. White
took a decidedly optimistic view Of tae
future OF this industry while Mr.. Saw.
tell took a rather pessiaistic view.
Both of these gentlemen believed that
the south country is well adapted to
the production OF beef cattle. Mir. Saw
tell summed the situation up by stat.
ing that "the Ll&.l reason the cattle
industry has MOI developed is the fact
that farmers pin Their faith and their
efforts to cotton" | hardly agree with
him in his statement that the industry
will not develop, writes a correspond
ent of the Southern Rura,ist. Con-
sidering the influences that are being
brought to bear uron the farmer the
industry Is pretty certain to develop
to certain extent The growth will
be slow and gradual How can as in
telligent a people as We have in the
south help bat see the folly of depend
ing upon the sale Of cotton to pur-
chase their meat from other sections
of the country when meat can be pro-
duced at home at lower cost? How
can they see their commercial fer
tilizer bills grow larger every year
and their profits smaller, and still not
take up a system of farming that will
he 70 81 ntb
sections of the country have changed
to live stock production when they
reached the point agriculturally now
reached by the south and why will
not We do it? The very fact that our
best men, our best farm papers our
agricultural colleges and experiment
stations are preaching more cattle,
cannot help but have some influence
for good. 1t takes periods OF unrest
and agitation to get any good business
started among a people, and what we
are hearing now is step toward es-
tablishing the beef cattle business.
One of the most important steps
towards establishing the beef cattle
industry in Georgia would be the intro
duction of bulls of the beef and dual
purpose breeds. There is too great
a scarcity of beef blood. The Jersey
will never make good beef animal
and yet more blood of this breed is in
evidence than of all other breeds. For
strictly dairy purposes the Jersey is
excellent but for the general farmer
yho keeps several cows and is not so
situated that he can well dispose of
dairy products cattle of the beef or
dual purpose breeds are better. There
should be breeders of beef and dual
purpose cattle just the same as there
are breeders of the dairy breeds. Such
breeders will distribute bulls of the
beef type about the country and by
crossing upon common stock there
will be laid the foundation of the
beef cattle business.
= In this matter of the Introduction of
beef blood the large packer can WELD
a great influence. He can encourage
the importation of beef blood and he
can show the farmer that he is viii
ing to give a square deal when II
comes to marketing the cattle. AS
yet there has never been a market for
well bred fat cattle in Georgia. The
very prices that would be offered for
we'll bred fat steers would be sufficient
to discourage the production of prime
beef. The poor prices are not en-
tirely the fault of the butcher and
packer, however. They are due in
part to the fact that steers of prime
quality so seldom appear upon Georgia
markets that butchers have not been
educated to paying for them what they
are worth and would bring upon a
western market. AS an illustration |
know of feeders in this state who go
to Tennessee and buy steers of the
beef hreeds, and fatten them on cot
ton seed meal and hulls, and when
they are fat the feeder sends them to
Cincinnati where he can get a living
price for them. The probabilities are
that the carcasses of these animals
are shipped back south and the Geor-
gia consumer pays the freight both
ways and each dealer profit.
The best that we can expect for the
south is that cattle of the beef breeds
will be more in evidence and that the
farmer will learn to feed cattle to a
marketable condition, and then that
the packer and butcher will pay prices
for them that will enable the farmer 10
realize a profit