Omaha daily bee., 1914-10-18
ny ". A. BURNETT.
Dean OF the Collese OF Agriculture.
University OF Nebraska.

A generation ago. the Great Plains
country was the pasture land Of the ma
ton. True, the settlement Of the region
| into farmsteads was well under way,
especially on the eastern fringe, but the
great free range from the gulf to Can
ada stretched out toward the setting sun
for unnumbered leagues. inviting the
cattle man to a land where grass and
water were sometimes abundant some
| times scarce and sometimes altogether
absent The conditions. however. were
| generally favorable. and the ratio Of cat
/ tie to population in the United States
reached its highest point In our history,
| while the price of meat animals was
correspondingly low.
| Twenty years ago. in the year 1894
the United States Department of Agri-
/ culture statistics showed S6,6OS,OOO beef
cattle in the United States. with an es-
/ umated average value of S1A66. In Janu-
airy. 1914, the same statistics show s., $50
! 600 beef cattle, with an average value
| OF SSLlS. II will thus be seen that the
number of cattle other than milch cows
has remained practically stationary in
/ the last twenty years. while the price has
/ increased liz per cent on farms and other
| statistics show that the price OF meat
/ products to the consumer has Increased
| about 125 per cent in the last ten years.
! Dairy cattle have increased within this
| period from 16,5Oo,OO0 to 20,70O,O 900, and the
| average price has increased from 81 n
to 1894 per head.
! sheep show an increase by the United
/ states Department Of Agriculture sta
tistics from 5000, 900 in 1894 to $4,000 i'm
/ 1914. but as the United States census
/ SHOWS decrease from CT, 500 600 in 1900 70
! oZ'5OOo0 In 1910 and n continued decrease
! Dy the United States Department of Ag-
: i1culture statistics since 1910. II Is fair
I 10 presume that there has been no in
crease In the number OF sheep in the last
twenty years. In 1894. sheep are quoted
at A.sS per head. and I'm 1914 at 800 or
an increase in price OF more than 100
per cent.
The numbsr OF swine have fortunately
increased in the last twenty years TO
meet the increasing demand for meat
products. showing 1900, 900 in 1894 by the
United States Department of Agriculture
statistics, against 5S.9OO,OO0 in 1914 The
price has risen from an average of S5.9S
per head in 1894 to 1000 in 1914.
IN the meantime the population of the
United States has increased from 81. 800
VVo In 1890 to 81, 100000 in 1910. with an esti-
mated population in 1914 Of 100, 900 peo-
pie OF an increase in population of 50 per
cent in the last twenty-four years
This increase in population has carried
with 1t a pressure for the occupation of
lana which In earlier days was thought
valuable only for grazing purposes. BY
restricting the freedom and limiting the
area OF the range it has greatly reduced
the number of range-bred cattle until
the industry is fast being driven to the
mountain Businesses, the desert areas and
to. land under lease in the United States
forest reserve. In the meantime settle
lnent has pressed hard upon these former
pastures and much land has been broken
up which is more suitable for grazing
than for crop production.
| The settlement of this land has gen.
orally resulted in its withdrawal from
pasture and the use OF the better portions
OF the land for grain raising. Generally
the homesteader was too poor to own cat
Tie and was dependent for his subsistence
upon the grain he could raise. II sea-
sons were favorable he prospered; II un-
favorable, he held on in poverty and I'm
the hope that next year would again be
a year OF plenty Many Of these settlers
were able to purchase or to bring with
them small bunch of beef cattle or a
few milk cows, and the increase from this
nucleus Of a herd made them less de-
pendent upon the grain crop than were
their neishbors who did not supplement
their grain farming with live STOCK.
In nearly all the Great Plains region
| where rainfall is so low or so uncertain
as to make grain growing precarious. the
men who have developed live stock pro-
duction as an adjunct to grain farming
rave prospered beyond those who have
depended upon grain alone as a source
OF revenue. In this case they have fire.
quently occupied the cheaper ana rougber
land rather than the smoother lands and
have found the pasturing of the cheaper
lands more profitable than the cultivation
OF the tillable land.
Regardless OF the advantage which has
come TO the plains region through the in
PRODUCTION OF dry farming methods, for
age crops are much more certain to ma
ture than grain crops and are valuable
only when there is live stock available
to consume them. Kafir, feterita, cane
and the other sorghums are valuable In
proportion as they can be utilized locally
'N~N' @ho bidiho which are
most normally grown, aside from wheat.
are also most profitable IL consumed To-
cally' as markets are likely to be uncer-
tain and freight rates high.
considerable proportion OF the land
In the plains region is rolling. sandy, or
otherwise unfit for the plow. This land
| should be fully utilized for pasture DUR
| poses. In addition TO this, all lands OF
the smoother class which will produce a
larger net profit in grass than by crop
ping under the uncertainty of the sea-
sons should be kept in grass and utilized
as pasture. A careful examination of the
dry farming regions will show that the
per cent OF smooth hard lands which
| should be retained in grass is much larger
than would at first be supposed. II may
be said that these lands have become too
| high priced to use for pasture, but unless
the land can show net profit on the
crop in an average year which will pay
I the fixed charges on the land, then the
excess value placed on the land over its
net earning pow er is purely speculative
and not to be used as a basis upon which
to establish land values or determine sys-
TENS of land management The net
profit per acre in good years Is less UNI
der pasture than under grain cropping.
but in bad years the net revenue is
greater under pasture and the risk is al