The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-11-27
CONNECTICUT'S ACRlCULT URAL
PROSPECTS GIVEN JOLT WHEN
COLD WAS DISCOVERED IN WEST

at present. Think of the potatoes
that could be grown. Think of the
possible magnitude of increase in the
agricultural industry and remember
that there is a home market for it
all. Connecticut could support a
packing house like Armour's or
Swift's and keep it mighty busy too
The farmers naturally say that the
cost Of grain makes it too expensive
to keep more cattle, that the cost of
labor is prohibitive. With manure,
grain will not cost so much; with beef
cattle, the grain bill will be nothing
except for a month or two of feed
ing before marketing, and the cost of
labor, perhaps the hardest expense of
all for the farmer to bear. That, with
beef cattle, is reduced to a minimum.
We do not wish to discourage anyone
who is running dairy. Dairy farms
are an absolute necessity and some of
them are making good, but, on the
other hand, why cannot these dairy
farms, and other farms too, feed some
beef through the winter? To get milk
you must have grain and there must
be plenty of labor too, but with the
beef end of the proposition no grain
need be- used until the cattle are fur
nished for market. And, further, the
labor cost of beef cattle can be re-
duced to a very small amount
We know of a young man, less than
twenty years Of age, who cared for
165 head last winter and he is going
to do more than that the coming win
ter. What we want to see, as far as
possible, is Connecticut providing her
own food and not buying about nine
tenths of it from the West. Can't we
OURSELVES 90 Siar than w n
the West? We can. When there Is
such an enormous space, a great open
empty chasm waiting to be filled, the
average business man is not slow in
the filling. He jumps right in and
supplies the market.
Connecticut has just such an open
void in it's agricultural condition. We
have no sheep, no cattle, to speak of.
and no beef or pork Last year, the
people of Connecticut paid freight on
and for 800, 100000 pounds Of s1augh-
tered pork as well as for thousands Of
pigs and cattle on the hoof.
The State Council of Defense appre-
ciates the conditions and hopes to see
them remedied. 1t stands ready at
any time, through the live stock de-
partment of its committee of food
supply, to do anything it can toward
Lie IACICdSO VI SICcPy CdIIlS, VI pigs.
1t will, through expert cattle men,
purchase in carload lots, for individ-
ual or communities, any live stock
wanted. 1t will arrange with the
banks, as far as possible, to advance
the money for the purchase of cattle.
This is a principal part of the busi-
ness of the western banks and it
should be so in New England.
To those farmers who have hay to
spare and barn room for shelter we
urge that they get in touch with us at
once, that we may order what they
can handle on their farms. We have
at our command judges Of cattle, pigs,
and sheep in the western stockyards,
who will make satisfactory selections
and purchases and attend to the for
warding of any live stock desired.
| Professor Harry Lucian Garrigus
and Professor John A. Simms of the
Connecticut Agricultural College will
help in any possible way with cattle
and pigs, and Mr.. Arthur Guy Skim
ner, an expert sheep man from Can
ada, will aid on the sheep question.
| Signed:
| Samuel Russell, Jr, Midd1etown
James M. Whittlesey, Morris.
Leonard III. Healey, Woodstock.
Live Stock Department of Connecti-
cut Committee of Food Supply. :
Hartford, Conn.,, November "a,
I1917