The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-26
DW|NDL|NG. HERDS
IN WEST CAUSE OF
THE HIGH PRICES
Spread of Agriculture Said
to Be Responsible for
Decrease i'm Stock
Raising


beef feeding centers. In 13 years the
number of cattle of al! classes in these
states has decreased 20 per cent, while
the population. except in Iowa, has in
creased from 8 to is per cent. What is
known as the native herd. the fine.
sleek animals of the corn belt, are
dwindling away <and prices of the re-
mainder rise constantly
The gap which the loss OF the ma
tive herd has left is being partly filled
by inferior cattle from the ranges Of
Texas, from quarantine cattle of the
southeast and even from Mexico. a peep
into the pens of the St Louis Ma
tional stock yards is sufficient to show
wildly the vast difference between the
princely bovines OF the native herd and
the outlaw "heretics" of the southern
range The native beef steer is
large, well fed. well bred, well be-
haved animal. He has been hand raised
as it were, on the finest that cattle
could wish to eat He has been watered
and fed and cared for like the favor
ite and priced child that he is. He has
always found water and forage and
shelter within reach. And he shows
this raising in his disposition. He is
calm and contented. almost phlegmatic
1t might be said. He has a sanguine
a robust body. When you enter his
pen, ii he is lying down, you can step
up and stroke his fat sides and you
have his passive permission to go as
far as you like. When he arrives at the
stock yards he will walk from the cat
tie car down the chute with almost
majestic calms He has led soft life,
has all his needs supplied and does not
worry, says the ST. Louis Globe Dem
ocrat.
The greatest contrast to this animal
is what is called the "knot-head. from
the south. Compared with the fine bo-
vines of the native stock, this knot
head" presents sorry sight. He com
pares in size with the native COW as a
rat terrier with a full grown New
foundland. He is scrawny, thin and
, ugly. He has a nervous, restless, dis
position, which does not help to cover
his ribs with fat, and the ribs are
plainly visible beneath his corduroy
like sides. He has been turned loose
on great range to forage for himself
and live as he could. Where the ma
tive COW has gone few steps to water
he has walked miles. He has been
compelled to ramble over vast wastes
for few mouthfuls of food. He is
hard and wiry and has the wilderness
VI tiie open pidceS III his w nen
he comes down the chute he runs, and
when one approaches his pen he is up
In an instant and rushing into the
farthest corner of the lot.
These "knot-heads are coming in ever
increasing droves. There was a time
when 1t hardly paid to ship them, but
now there is a great demand for them.
People are crying for cheaper meat and
| this scrawny stuff supplies that demand.
Texas Steer Fair Animal
| There is a better class of stuff from the
south than the .'knot-h however
There Is medium grade which has been
raised in Texas and brought over TO Okla
homa to be fattened. There Is the de-
horned Texas steer. which has been bred
and cared for until he is g very fair AMI
NAL. And there is the good quarantine
stun, which Is sold in large quantities
for slaughter. Quarantine cattle come
from large section of the southeast
and south, where the cattle tick is pre-
valent and which has been placed under
the ban of quarantine by the United
States government. The southern cattle
are immune to the tick disease, but they
carry the tick, and it is deadly to the
northern or native cattle. though 1t In no
way affects the quality of the msat If the
COW survives. In an effort to stamp out
the tick the government has ruled that the
cattle raised in the defined territory
cannot be shipped out except to quar-
antine stations and to the packing houses
quarantine station is O stockyards sup
piled with q dip tank and other apparatll us
for dipping cattle to kill the tick For
instance tho National Stockyaras, which
receives large quantities of this quaran-
tine stuff, may either sell 1t to the pack
ing houses for slaughter or to other quar-
antine stations, but are prohibited from
selling 1t to farmers to be fattened un-
diynn
sulting In the eradication of the tick
M. A. Taylor. vice president of the Ma
tional Stock Yards National bank, has
made thorough study of the cattle sit
uation and has O. constantly increasing
acquaintance with farmers associat ons
and other organizations, before which he
has lectured on the cattle industry and
Its decline. In reference to the decline
of the native herd and high cost of beef,
he says
The high cost of living Is perhaps no
more clearly emphasized in any direction
than in the increased market statistics
and from these alone, can we find an ey-
PLANTATION for this skyrocketing of values
From figures in the federal census re-
port of 1900 and the annual year book Of
the department of agriculture for 1912 the
cattle situation In the United States on
January of the three years. 1900, 1910 and
1913, Is seen at a glance to be as follows:
190o-Number S7.71sooo value, 81. i.475,ao4.-
600; per head. $22.
1s1o-Number, sl,sos.ooo; value 81, ,42s 52s,-
000; per head. S24. ~
191S-Number, 5s,527 600; value. st,s72, 49,
00O; per head. s53.
This indicates a decrease in cattle OF
approximately II per cent, an increase
n price OF 60 per cent, with an estimated
increase in population Of "a per cent. a
spread, IL you please. between supply and
demand for Al per cent in a period of l3
years
Bringing these figures closer to home
into the very heart OF the native cat
tie industry--the following figures are
taken for illinois:
'1sOQ-value, ss2. 10000 number, 3,104 600.
per head. S26.
'1s1o-value, s7s. .454, 900; number, 2,4lo 600
per head, $50.
'19ls-value. ssO,o4s 600; number, 2,2s5. 1000;
per head. $40.
''The population of Illinois Increased In
this time practically Is per cent and the
cattle of all classes decreased 20 per cent
another spread between supply and de-
mand In the @~cr.a~4 ~F'''. feeding state
n the union, of 3S per cent.
For Missouri tnc l.a.. es are as fol-
lows:
'1s'o-Number, 2.s7Sooo; value. ST, ,s5s, 600,
per head, 325.
'19lO-Number, 1851 900; value, s72,sss, 900;
per head. SIS.
-. .