The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1911-04-28
CATTLE RAISING.
Address to Farmers Of the South
by w. w. Finley.

/ The consumption 81 meat products
in the United States is constantly in
creasing and there is a steady demand
for American meats in foreign markets.
statistics Of the number Of animals on
farms and ranges on the first Of Janu
airy each year published by the United
States Agricultural Department show
that. in recent years, meat production
IN the United States, instead Of keeping
pace With the increased demand, has
decreased.
The maximum number Of cattle,
other than mich cows, reported by the
Department was 81, 566. 900 on January
/, 1907. On January /, 1910. the
latest year for which figures have been
published, the number was Az ,279, 600,
decrease Of 4, 2sT, 900 or So per cent.
in three years. The maximum number
of hogs reported was Sc, 9S2, 600 on JAM
/ l, 1901 On January |, 1910, the num-
Der was AZ, 7S2, 900, a decrease of 8, 200, d
600, or 16. i per cent The maximum
number Of sheep reported was 6S, &c.,
600 on January /, 1908 On January
l, 1910, the number was 81, 216,0o0, Al
decrease Of 6, 749, 900, or 1915 per cent,
The decrease in the number Of cattle
has been,ssin large measure, due to the
cutting up Of the great western ranges
into farms. These great ranges are now
becoming thing Of the past, and the
meat supply of the United States, both
for home consumption and for export,
must, to an increased extent, be pro-
duced on the farms
A publication recently issued by the
United States Agricultural Department
on Beef Production in Alabama serves
to emphasize the advantages Of the
South as q live stock region, for results
equally as favorable as those in Ala
bama are being obtained in other states
throughout the South, and much that
the report says as to the growing OF
beef applies with equal force to other
live stock This report sums up the
reasons why the farmers Of the South
should engage more extensively in the
growing Of beef cattle substantially AS
follows:
The South, under the system Of farm
ing heretofore prevailing, has thousands
Of acres Of land, and good land, too,
which are not being used at all Sta
tistics show that only about 40 per cent
Of the tillable or arabic land Of the
South is being used. Sixty per cent. Of
the land is lying idle and returns no in
come to the owner. The farms are
large, and, principally because Of the
lack Of sufficient labor, many acres are
not being used AT present there is no
better way to put the whole farm to
work than by introducing beef cattle
into the system. They require but a
small amount Of labor in addition to
that employed in the other work Of the
farm.
The report to which ! have referred
emphasizes the importance of cattle
raising in connection with diversified
farming and building up soil fertility,
1t says; GAS the farmers learn the value
Of Investigation in farming operations
there will be an increased amount Of
roughage, such as corn fodder, cowpea
and clover hays. and soy beans, which
many times can be marketed more
profitably through the beef animals
than in any other way. The beef eat
tie serve as important machines for con
verting the surplus fodder into valuable
BARNARD manure, which gives to the
growing crops not only the benefits Of
its fertilizing elements, but enhances
the natural condition Of the soil by the
addition Of that important compound
humus.
The Department has conducted some
careful experiments to determine the
value of barnyard manure. In these
experiments it was demonstrated that
the average increase in crop yields OBJ
tanned by the use of barnyard manure
alone gave it value Of $3.50 per ton,
and that barnyard manure combined
with commercial fertilizers had value
Of SASS.
/ On plantation where corn and cot
ton we're grown an experiment was con-
Quoted which would seem to be of inter-
est to farmers throughout the cotton
belt. On part Of the land on this PLAN
tation devoted to corn, peas were grown