The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1915-02-11
INCREASE IN
LIVE STOCK
Information Gathered by the
Government Shows Supply
is on the Increase.

For the tirst time in many years,
information collected by the depart.
ment shows that all classes OF live
stock In the United States are iu-
creasing in numbers. Thus the real
facts contradict, absolutely, sensa-
tional reports that prices Tor meat
and shoes would rise To unpreeedenl.
ed figures in the Immediate future.
1t has even been said that govern
ment statistician predicted meat al
80 cents a pound and shoes at $40 a
pair within the next two years. Such
prediction, the real government sta
tisticians say Is quite unwarranted.
ON January /, for example, the
number OF beef cattle showed an in
crease OF 3.4 per cent over the mum
Der year ago, aud an actual increase
OF /, PIP, 900 head. Hitherto the num-
Der OF beef cattle In the United
| States has declined steadily since
1910. There are also more mllch cows
in the country than last year, the In
crease being 2.5 per cent, or IN mum
bers 525, 900. Swine, however, show
ed the greatest increases OF ali class
es --9.6 per cent. On January /, 1914,
there were only SO, 933, 900 swine in
the country; on January /, 1915, a.
dis, 600 This is accounted for by the
fact that the production OF swine can
be increased mere rapidly than that
OF other classes Of live stock aud con-
sequently an enlarged demand can be
met more rapidly.
The prediction Of 50-cent meat and
so shoes was accompanied 10y the
decla rat ion that France alone has
taken from America nearly 300, 600
horses within the last live months
aud that the other countries sat war
have dra gn upon our resources in tile
same proportion. The facts are that
more horses we're on tn farms OF the
United States on January /, 1915,
than there were year before, the IN.
crease being 233, 900 head, or IL per
cent. So far from France alone hay
ing taken 800. 900 horses from us, the
total exports since che war hegan
have certainly been much less than
100, 600 and very Likely not over IS, 600.
Since there are approximately 25,
900, 900 horses altogether In the y. 5,
the drain on account OF the war is
scarcely alarming.
1t is, in fact, pointed out 10y gov.
ernment statisticians that the mark
ct value OF farm horses has actually
declined TO such an extent that this
average is nov about s6 a head les,
than a year ago. This decline !,
: raOst noticeable in the cotton states
aud IN those states which make 1
business OF brt edng horses for sale IL
other sections. Mu.es have declined
aven more than horses, their value
being now Sll 80 per head less than 1
year ago. The explanation is to b'
e found In the depression on account
Of the cotton situation In the south
which Is the great market for mules
= An Improvement in this respect vii
I do much to restore the demand TO
= horses, so that government specialist
4, while ridiculing the notion of
+ horse famine, ara convinced tina
farmers will find 1t profitable 10 US
] good work mares for breeding NOR
8 stock.
As for hides, the situation is no
quite SO clear, but even here ther
las been much gross exaRgeration
From two-ffths tu less than one-hal
Of the leather used In this country
imported, about - per cent OF tn
foreign hides coming from ArgeC
y tina, Is per cent from Canada, II pc
cent from Mexico, 81 per cent froI
;, European Russia, and ~ per cen
from France Since tile outbreak 0
:, the.war importations have shown
= certain falling OF, those for Septea
her, 1914, for example, being oni
:, "a. 900, 900 pounds, instead of IS, 600
: 40 pounds the year previous. Their
. is, hoWsvsr, little reason to supros
that this decrease will BE- permaner
-, OF of sufficient importance to Great
= any real scarcity. Since the grea
:, bulk Of the imported uides CON,
from countries that are not al VA
shlomerts are not interfered with
any ~ayr AM the only new factor
:. I've considered is the possibility Of a
:. increased demand by the wsrrin
countries.
IL IL believed. however, that a
United States is nos in a better COZ
lie al ion 10 face such a situation ths
ng for ysars past. The tide, IL seeB
has turned. Instead Of live stoC