The Coconino sun., 1919-03-07

Speaking before the Amerlcah Na- tional Live Stock association at Den yer, Colo, January 22, D. F. Houston secretary of agriculture, said that there will probably be continuing de mand from Europe for American meat products, reminded the cattlemen that livestock production in this country has not kept up with increasing popu, lation, and advocated government regulation of the .stockyards and pack ing houses.
 Mir. Houston also spoke in favor ot improved grazing conditions in the ma. tional forests and replied to a proposal from the department of the interior that administration of the forests be transferred from the department ot agriculture.
 Grazing, the handling of livestock the control of predatory animals, ot poisonous weeds, of reforestation, of marketing, are all agricultural prob lems," the secretary said, "and the de partment of the interior could not properly deal with them unless it took over the department of agriculture or built up duplicate of it"
 Continuing Demand for Meat
 Products.
 "There are certain things, however that we may keep in mind. We know of course, that Europe will have diffi' culty in making full recovery in re, spect to her livestock. In England livestock has been prudently con served. Her herds have been pre- served, especially her breeding ami mals and England will recover very quickly. France has been harder hit There are no accurate estimates as tc how much her stock has been reduced Switzerland has kept her herds, They have not produced as much during the war as before, but they are relatively intact. Germany and Austria have suffered greatly. There will probably be a continuing substantial demand for meat products. To what extent there will be demand for breeding animals is another question because European countries will be very con servative in introducing breeding stock from this country or from places to which they have not heretofore looked.
 Plan for Greater Population.
 "We may bear this in mind also This is a growing nation, growing so fast that very few people keep up with it. How many of you realize tha' in 15 years, from 1900 to 1915, we gained population of 24,000,O0O, a population greater than that of any South American country in point ot producing and consuming capacity, q population three-fifths that of France We have gained three and half mil lion people during the European war I assume that we shall gain at the rate of 100000 or more for the next 20 or 25 years. Now, while the increases l gave a moment ago are large and gratifying, they were due to the existence of the recent peculiar conditions, and we must recognize that livestock production in this country has not kept up with increasing pop ulation. The number of cattle in 1918 is given at 44,00O,0O0, but we had about 42,000,000 at the 1910 census The increases are recent. We have got to plan for population Tn the next 20 years of 20,000,000 or 25,OO0,, GOO more, and we must make our plans now. We can hardly develop the live stock industry overnight or wisely alter their permanent foundation quickly.
 Improve Forest Grazing.
 "We can help by improving grazing conditions. We have greatly betterec them in the national forests. l have been advocating for six years some thing that seemed obvious to me fron1 the beginning, that there should be improvement of grazing on public lands. The department of agriculture has been urging this for 15 years. The department of agriculture has beer urging classification of public lands not that there should be a rigid clas' sification which could not be changed but one which might be reconsidereo at frequent intervals. Clearly, graz ing should be regulated on the public lands so that they may support many more animals. was glad to hear 2 representative of the department q the interior say yesterday that he is now in favor of this policy. l have been surprised that he has not beer in favor of it from the outset. w tried to get the Kent bill through. II might have gone through if there had been favortble report on it from both departments. Now comes tho suggestion at this late day from tht interior department that there shoulc be regulated grazing on the public domain, that it should and must bt handled by that department, that there should not be two agencies con trolling grazing, and that. therefore the national forests should be turned back to the interior department. Arc why? Because that department hold: the. title to the land and the govern ment would not think of transferrinf title to another department. A triflt amusing, is it not. both the reason an, the proposal? The title to land in thu national forests is in the interior de partment and the grazing on them !! regulated by the department of agri /, culture. Obviously. if the government wished. that department could regu late grazing on the public domain out side the forests with title still lodged