The Washington herald., 1911-10-22

any grain for more than a quarter of a
century.
I'm the United States range cattle must
be driven into the corn country and fed
awhile before they are ready for the
butcher. With US, the cost of a steer
is simply the interest on the land invest
ment and the price of herding. More
over, we do business on a tremendous
scale. Some of our ranches are princi-
palities. ranging In size from a league,
or 6400 acres, to fifty leagues, or 10000
acres. And each estanciero owns his
land in fee simple.
Bulls that Cost $4,000.
"On immense estates large returns are
possible even when 1.-The yearly profit
amounts to but $1.SS on each animal. as
know by experience. AS a rule, how
ever, we can squeeze out about 81. Thus
on every 100 head of cattle, made up of
twenty-five yearlings, twenty-five two
year-olds, twenty-five three-year-olds,
and twenty-five cows, the annual profit
ought to be $4OO. 1t takes 100 COWS to
produce ten marketable steers-there are
as many heifer calves as bull calves, and
the losses by death and accident are
considerable. Some of our imported bulls
fairs in this country, but have seen no
stock that can be compared with our
own
In your opinion, why is meat so dear
in the United States?''
Well" Mr.. Hope replied, let us con-
slider bread for a moment and see II
we cannot get an answer that will apply
to almost anything that is necessary and
eatable. Wheat is exported from this
country through such ports as Galveston
Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and
Boston. Suppose cargo of wheat were
grown in Iowa and loaded in Boston.
Wheat from the same region. let us say,
is made into flour at a mill in New Eng
land. The flour is baked into bread and
sold in Boston for cents loaf. Bread
is cents a loaf, a pound to the loaf, all
over the country. Meanwhile the Iowa
wheat, exactly like that out of which
the Boston bread was made, pays freight
to England. where it is ground into flour,
baked into bread, and sold in Liverpool or
London for cents a loaf. pound to the
loaf, the same as in America
"A brief answer to your question would
be 'middlemen. Another answer would
be the eXtravagant cost of distribution.
Mr. Wilson, your Secretary of Asricul-
ture, says the American producer and
consumer are far apart. which means. Of
course, thai many prohtS are between
them. have lived in London and in
Washington. and have studied retail
prices in both cities. which are repre-
sentative, l dare say. of English and
American prices generally. Food is dear
over the water, but not nearly 80 dear
as in this country. Your government Of
hcials asked me what would happen were
the tariff taken off meats. I replied that
Argentine beef and mutton brought
thousands of miles would sell cheaper on
the docks Of New York than would meat
brought only hundreds of miles from
Chicago.
The Price of Meat in London.
Lamb. by the leg. is selling for ~
cents a pound in this country. 1t Is
chilled or frozen meat and none of 1t
is strictly fresh. The quality of meat
shipped across the ocean from Ar
gentina or received from Australia IN
refrigeratory ships is selling in London
for 10 cents a pound. In the United
States the meat trust tells the farmer
what 1t will pay for his cattle and sheep
and then tells the consumer what he
must pay at retail for the cattle and
sheep cut up into meat. The trust con-