Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-30
SOURCE OF WEALTH
Fort Worth, Tex, Makes Big
Profit on Cattle.
IMMENSE PACKING HOUSES
Volume of Business Increasing With
Rapid Strides.
RESOURCES OF LONE STAR STATE
Thirty Million Acres Under Cultiva-
ton, Producing Cotton and Grain.
Live Stock Industry,
IMMENSE PACKING HOUSES
RESOURCES OF LONE STAR STATE
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM z. CURTIS.
Special Corresroudense Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
FORT WORTH. Tex, March o5 1911.
Tt is rather singular that there should
be two such enterprising and prosperous
cities so near together as Dallas and Fort
Worth. and I would not dare give the
real reasons even if / knew them, be-
cause 1t is a very delicate question. The
relations between them are very similar
to those Of st. Paul and Minneapolis, and
they are connected with q trolley line,
which enables communication to be fire.
quent and regular. Multitudes Of Dallas
people come to Fort Worth every day
and multitudes of Fort Worth people re-
turn the visit. When you are in Fort
Worth it is necessary for ones peace OF
mind as we'll as ones popularity to admit
that IL il the greatest town on earth, and
when you cross over to Dallas 1t is eX-
pedient to recognize the superiority Of
that city as soon as you see 1t in per-
spective. Both have many and large
points to recommend them.
7 have already told YOU in previous let
tiers what makes Dallas great, and the
wealth and prosperity Of Fort Worth
are based upon the cattle business The
packing houses and stock yards here are
already enormous. They are increasing
in dimensions and in the volume of BUSH
ness transacted with tremendous strides.
and one of these days Fort Worth is 60
ing to be one of the greatest, II not the
greatest. cattle market in the world. Such
Is the will mature and II the enter
prise of men concurs there is no doubt
ways been the biggest cattle market OF
Texas, Just as San Antonio has been the
sheep town and wool market, Galveston
the great shipping port. Houston the cot
bat on6
center.
Gain in Population.
Fort Worth is eighth on the list Of the
most rapid growing cities in the United
States and. according to the recent GEN.
sus. has gained 114.7 per cent in popu-
lation during the last ten years. Okla
ho:ua City stands first on the list, then
come Muskogee. Birmingham, Pasadena,
Los Angeles, Berkeley and Flint.
The total population Of Fort Worth on
the LIST Of June, 1910. was 1872, and.
during the nine months that have passed
since then it Is believed that more than
2,JOO people have settled in the town, so
that il is proper to claim 7a,OOO.
Nowhere can the evolution in the cat
tie business of Texas be SO clearly recog-
nized and thoroughly understood as at
Fort Worth, because none but Texas
stock comes to this market. A few years
ago the yards were continually filled with
the old-fashioned. wild and tireless, long
horned steers. Most of them were more
muscle than tissue. They were built on
the race horse plan. Today the cattle
killed at Fort Worth are Shorthorns and
HerefOrds, the two breeds which are sup
posed to make the best beef and have
the least gristie and muscle. The Texas
steer Will soon be a Renaissance. He is
no longer found in the eastern and CEN
trail part Of the state, and there is only
Inc ~ ~. fhA Cf0 kcd nj oin md "a
panhandle. The long-horned steer van
ished with the cowboy. He does not At
barbed-wire fences. The pastures Of
Texas are today covered with heavy
beeves, which go more to tissue and less
to muscle.
The habits Of the Texas stock man have
also changed. He has discarded the ira
ditional methods of his forbears and feeds
his steers on alfalfa, sorghum cane and
other forage plants In closed pasture
instead of turning them loose on the
range until the annual roundup.
Increase in Weight and Value.
The weight and the value of Texas cat
tie today is at least % per cent greater
than it was fifteen or twenty years ago.
and the number keeps about the same.
Ranchmen cannot afford any longer to
keep lean steers. The land is too valua-
bic. Only in few counties, and those
to leave cattle on the open range.
In 1890 the average assessed value Of
land in Texas was $685. per acre, and
1877 ,9S1, 162 acres were recorded on the
from the previous assessment, which was
made in 1907, varied from II cents to
x1SS1 per acre. ard represented total
of more than s2o.OCOOo0. Tarrant coun,
showed the greatest increase in valua-
ton: from an average Of s13.S per acre
in 1907 to $50 per acre in 1904 diff
ference of S1s.s7. Rockwell county
$16S3 in 1907 to s31.35 per acre in 1909.
and Ellis county showed an increase from
an average of s12.10 to s33.OS.
Ellis county is the greatest cotton Sec
ton In the world and probably ships
more bales per year than any correspond
ing area on the face of the earth. Tar
rant county is being flied up with feed
ing farms, where ranch stock are fatten-
ed for the packing houses.
The advance In the value OF these farm
lands is caused by the demand and the
demand Is created by the desire, and,
indeed. the necessity TO have farms con-
venient to the packing houses, where the
cattle may BE- fattened for slaughter and
thus increased in value We'll as in
weight The transportation of beef
steer either on the trail or on a railway
loss in weight is quite as great as the
charge for transportation.
Expenses of Shipments.
1t costs approximately s. per head in
money TO ship cattle from the ranches OF
Texas TO the packing houses of Chicago,
and then there is much greater loss
caused by the shrinkage in weight. 4
steer that can be bought for sI5 in
Texas can be made worth So by a
few weeks experience in the corn belt OF
Illinois or some fattening farm near
Chicago. Three dollars worth OF corn
will make $40 difference in the value OF
steer. and il is a mystery that the peo-
pie of Texas have not fattened, killed and
dressed their own beef and put the diff
ference in value into their own pockets
IL would increase the value Of the cattle
at least SO a head II they were fattened
and slaughtered at home instead OF being
shipped to Chicago.
In the latest returns there are about
sixteen million head OF live stock in tn.
United States. valued at about A3o5 coo
900. Texas has more than any othe,
state. There are four head OF live stool
in Texas to every man, woman and child
in its population. Illinois and Iowa ex
coed Texas in the number OF horses ant
hogs. but l believe that Texas is ahead
In everything else. For example, Texa.
Oh