The Cook County news-herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Cook County, Minn.) 1909-current, 1917-01-10
SUMMARY OF REPORT BY
SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE
Discusses Nations Food Supply
Distribution and Marketing
Recommended


Recommendations.
The food supply of the nation is
discussed by the Secretary of Agri-
culture in his annaul report for the
fiscal year ended June 80, 1916. The
Secretary states that is notable that,
with the exception of meat and dairy
products. the per capita production
of the leading food commodities,
Notwithstanding the increase in pop
ulation, has remained approximately
the same or has increased. 1t is
gratifying to note, he adds, that the
alarming decline in beef production
reached it's lowest point in 1918; and
that since that time there has been
a material increase, while there has
been a marked advance in the num-
Der of swine since the census of 1899
The number of sheep has continued
to decline, but only to a slight ex-
tent. The number of animals slaugh-
tered and the quantity of meat pro-
ducts prepared under Government in
spection during the past fiscal year
are the largest in the history Of the
service. This heavier slaughtering
has been accompanied by an increase
in the remaining stock Of animals.
He points out that with all the a.
gencies available for improving ag-
riculture there is ground for optim-
ism as to the ability of the Nation
not only to supply itself with food
but increasingly to meet the needs
of the world.
The Secretary says that the acti
vities of the department toward in
creasing the meat supply have taken
two principal directions sly COM
batting diseases, and (2) the develop
ment of stock raising. He indicates
the progress which has been made
in the campaign for the eradiction of
the southern cattle tick and in COM
batting hog cholera, sheep and cattle
scabies, and contagious abortion. He
recommends the Inauguration of a
campaign against tuberculosis in
cattle and hogs, stating that this
disease is the most common, destruc-
tive, and widely disseminated of the
infectious diseases Of domestic ami
b mails and causes losses estimated at
! $25, 100000 a year in the United
States.
The Secretary shows that the graz
ing capacity of the national forest
ranges has been increased through
systematic regulation by from Is to
30 per cent, and states that the a.
doption of similar system of regula.
-tion on the $50 millions of acres of
public grazing land outside the for.
= ests would permit considerable ad
dition to the country's meat supply
he says the investigation of the de.
partment have shown conclusively
that the South is we'll adapted tc
economical beef and pork production
and that the eradiction of the cattle
tick is opening up large territory
for this purpose. Progress also has
been made in the destruction of 70.
dents which lessen the grazing value
OF western stock ranges, and in Kill
ling predatory animals which cause
losses to the live stock industry es
timated at $12,0oO,000 annually.
The Secretary recommends that
sheep be raised more extensively az
source of meat and wool and alst
as means of using much of thu
waste land on farms. He points out
that in the United States only on<
in seven farms of over 20 acres nov
supports sheep, with an average Of
one sheep of shearing age to 8 acre!
of land. The 800 million pounds O
wool now imported annually, he saws
could be secured from SO million
sheep, and this number could be ad
ded to our stock if fourth of tn,
remaining farms sustained one shee,
for each three acres. The report al
so discusses the development whic!
has taken place in the dairy indus
try and calls attention to the fac
that cheese making, which hereto
fore has been limited to certain
sections, can be extended successful
ly to the mountain regions of tn
South, to the valleys of the Roc
Mountains, and to many sections O
the Pacific coast.
In order to bring about the pro
duction of food crops adequate t.
meet the consuming needs of tn
country and the export demand, tn
Secretary says that one of the great
est agricultural needs is the estab
fishing of production. This can b
accomplished in large measures thr,
the use of better adapted or improv
ed crop varities, more systemati
{ and rational crop rotations, and i'm
proved agricultural practice gener