The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1914-10-15
FROM the New YORK Herald.

e11 before October has passed. Before
Christmas So will be paid for them.
but the real scarcity Will not be felt
until 1915. That is a prophecy uttered
by live stock commission men In Chi
cage and IN other western market CEN
tiers.
For every additional cent q pound
paid for beef cattle on the hoof the re-
tail price for dressed beef advances
from 3 to 6 cents. according to cuts
and quality. With live hogs on a 81
cent basis and better, the consumer
will And no comfort In turning to pork
ribs, bacon or ham. Calves already are
ON a S11 plane and going up. Veal 10,
Of course, forbidden to all but the few
who do not haggle over prices.
Mutton and zeal stew. In that quar-
ter lies temporary hope, but the hocks
Of sheep are not what they used to be.
human population considered In the
reckoning.
agriculture flashes the one word OF
cheer. 1t forecasts a condition OF re-
lief for the next rear In q
repienished supply Of cattle at home.
Commission men here a the de-
partment experts r wrong. Packers
would like to believe the prediction 10
well founded. but they don't Cattle
men In the west n northwest, doing
some forecasting on their ov-I account,
say the Washington prophets win be
COMPOUNDED by unwelcome facts.
Farmers Eohew Il.
Beef for the table In this country
never win be materially cheaper than
Il Is today, and II Is likely to be moro
costly by far II the preponderance OF
western expert Judgment Ia reliable.
There Is cumulative evidence that the
day Of the beefsteak Is fast passing.
Farmers I'm this middle western
country have more money, more COM
forts. more c~onveniences and more
luxurfes than they ever had before,
but they are cutting out beefsteak en-
tirely for their own use. They are
using It less and less as a chef douvre
for dinner and supper-dinner at
noon and supper at 8.
Because meat animals are decreas-
Ing In this country the character Of
the great Chicago packing plants Is
changing In q way that would astonish
the visitor who has not seen them for
10 years. The packers are turning to
the preservation Of fruits and h man
ufacture Of fruit products. At the
yards" n may now spend hours In
specting sample of jellies, jams, mar
malades, preserves, grape Juice and
dozens of ether attractive commodi-
ties that bea not the slightest rela-
tion to cattle or to dressed meats. This
metamorphosis Is likely to continue
until Chicago loses its old sobriquet
Of h pig sticking town" and become
known to the world as the marmalade
city.
Chicago packers declared hat their
meat business Is being conducted to-
day at q loss and that they operate
their plants because, the overhead
charges being heavy, the loss caused
by idleness would be SO much greater.
Thta ofo foxnanf NAV hn Italian NTH n
grain OF salt, but the extensive turning
to new lines Of endeavor would seem
to indicate that the millions of surplus
are not piling up as they did In the
old days for the meat barons.
Argentine Help Small.
II Is generally agreed thai the new
tariff law. which admits dressed meats
free Of duty has brought little relief
to the consumer unless 1t be in New
York and adjacent cities. where Ar
gentine beef Is available. New York
may be paying as much as ever for its
beef, but opinion out here Is that If II
did not have the Argentine product as
a part OF Its supply beef prices in the
metropolis would be still higher thar
they are. On the same line of reason
ing II would follow that with New
York and the east not drawing 80
heavily on western American supplies,
some benefit In reflected back to tina
| consumer In this part OF the country.
This help IL so small, however, that II
In scarcely appreciable.
| Canada ~ to date Of little aid to the
consumer on this side OF the line. The
Underwood tariff act has not stimulat-
ed beef or cattle imports from that
quarter. The reason for its failure to
do so Is said to be that Toronto and
Montreal are scurry1ng into the back
country Of the provinces to Obtain
enough raw material to supply the
home markets with dressed product
ceased to direct their efforts toward
Canada. In fact some kinds Of cattle
bring more in the Toronto livestock
markets than they would be worth to
Chicago or Buffalo, northeast Canada
Is too deeply e~ngrossed In wheat rails
ing to give attention to cattle, and thus
aid IN building up the supply or n
mails on the hoof for the killers Of this
country.
Mexico Negligible Factor.
Mexico Is a negligible factor, due to
the fact that the war has demoralized
business and decimated the cattle
herds. 1t will take years to re-establish
the livestock industry in the republic
to the south on q basis that would be
of material interest to the United
States,
Even Argentine. according to rep
r~esentatives Of local packers, has g.
100000 fewer cattle than 1t had four
or five years ago. Mr.. Arthur Meeker,
the leading figure In the business OF
Armour & Co., next to Mr.. ]. Ogden
Armour, says the price Of beef Ia high
In the Argentine republic and that
with SO few ships engaged In the meat
carrying business. as Is the case at
present, there Is small reason to look
for n early and material assistance
from that country.
Texas, once q great source or cattle
supply. is said by men who ought to
know to be producing 40 per cent fewer
beef animals than II raised a few years
ago. The Texas livestock business
lapsed with the cutting up OF large
ranches and with greater attention to
diversified farming. Observers OF the
cattle industry say that the state could
not bring it's beef supplies UP to the
standard of a decade ago in fewer than
10 years and then only by a careful
conservation OF heifers for breeding
purposes. There was great rejoicing
among breeders OF fine cattle a few
years ago when the passing or the
typical Texas steer. with the long
horns, was announced. Commission
men would welcome some Of that cat
tie clan now II It were available.
Some abnormal things are happening
now and then In the western cattle
hiisinaaa The law of economics ia that