The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1920-02-26
COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE MCRAE
TELLS Of STOCK RAISING POSSIBILITIES

mCtNde' commissioner of
agriculture, was in the city yesterday
en- route home from trip to fairs in
'ne southern part of the state. He
spent two days at the St. Lucie coun-
" lalr, at Fort Pierce, where there
was most creditable display in ev-
cry department. the surprise to him
however, was the showing made BY
Fellsmere Of hay and forage grasses.
Inc South Florida fair at Tampa had.
the dimension of a state fair in dis
plays showing every feature Of farm
life.
Florida GOrging Ahead
mo better demonstration could be
SHOWN the citizens of the state and
the thousands of tourists and visitors
than was given at Tampa" said Mr.
McRae. One only needs to visit our
iairs now to see that Florida is forg-
ing ahead in the production Of live
stock. Anyone who wishes to 20 into
the live stock business can find M
better state than Florida. The eli.
mate is unexcelled for growing al.
Kinds of animals and of the feathered
tribes. The abundance of wild ami.
mails found here when the first set
tiers came and still exist in some
parts OF the state is proof of this.
The fact that live stock in Florida in
creased in value from S23, 51O,479, In
1917, to S74'OOOOOO on January l.
t92e gain of over 2l4 per cent in
alue II eight ears, or nearly 70 per
cent per aEnun shows the great nos
slbilities of live stock growing in the
state. We have only begun to make
progress in the growing of improved
live stock.
I'VE have in Florida 100000 head
OF cattle, valued at $35,OOOOOO 49,
600 of them are kept for milk valued
at $61 per head; 5793 work oxen
valued at $5S per head II all native
cattle were pure breds and good
grades they would be worth $4,000
600 more than they are II the 49,
600 cows kept for milk were as good
as they are in some other states they
would be worth at least $4,000 900
more. If the $4,000 cattle sold in
1919 for around s3,50O,OOO were bred
and fed properly and brought up to
primes, weighing from 1000 to $500
they would sell for. from $4,000, 00C
to $12,O0O'O0O more to the producer
For example forty head Of cattle
weighing 10000 pounds will never
sell for as much as twenty head Of
cattle weighing 100000. The extra
weight gained by finishing is nearl
all meat. II all the cattle on hand
had been pure breds and good grades
and all sold in 1919 had been vel
bred finished cattle the producer
would have been at least $40, 0OO,0Ot
better off and the consumer woult
have been greatly benefited by get
ting better quality of milk. butter
and meat. and the cost Of production
would have been very little greater
as scrubs eat about as much as grades
and high bred stuff.
Il am glad to say that every veal
shows improvement,
What Proper Breeding VIII Do
1--WE had in Florida, January 1
1920, 1,53S,000 hogs, valued at $40,
100000. We sell about one-half mil
lion hogs per annum. If all the 500,
900 hogs sold per annum in Florids
were up In flesh and bred to tops the!
would weigh two or three times al
much as they do and sell from tire,
to five cents per pound more, ant
would bring the producers of Flor
ida some s24OOO,OOO more none.
than they do now and would compet
with hogs grown in any section o
} the United States. With proper breed
, ing, care and feeding we can produc
az much meat In one year as we nov
produce In three years. OF course W
J must stamp out hog cholera. We los