The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1920-03-03
FLORIDA IS
FORGING AHEAD
'"'" RAPIDLY

Commissioner of Agriculture W. A
McRae in speaking of his trip to the
South Florida Fair, and OF his tour OF
South Florida told the Times Union
of Jacksonville that "The South Flor
ida Fair at Tampa had all the d.
mansions Of a state fair In displays,
showing every feature of farm life.
Continuing he poited out the won
derful steps the state Is making In
the production of hogs and cattle, OF
the improved varieties.
We quote from his interview, show
ing the progress the state Is making
in the livestock line alone
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..
NfcRae. "One only needs to visit our
fairs now to see that Florida Is forg-
ing ahead in the production Of live
stock. Anyone who wishes to 60 into
the livestock business can find no
better state than Florida. The eli
mate is unexcelled for growing all
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 livestock in Florida in
creased in value from $23,510,479 in
1912 to $74,00O,000 on January /,
1920. a gain of over 214 per cent In
value in eight years. or nearly ~ per
cent per annum, shows the great pos
sibilities Of livestock growing in the
state. We have only begun to make
progress in the growing of improved
livestock.
I'VE have in Florida 100000 head
of cattle, valued at $36,000,0OO; 14O-
900 of them kept for milk valued at
SCI per head; 5,793 work oxen valued
at $5S per head. II all native cattle
were pure breds and good grades they
would be worth $22,OO0,0 900 more than
they are. II the 5000 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 100000 cattle sold in 1919 for
around $3,500,OOO were bred and fed
properly and brought up to primes
weighing from 1000 to 1900, thev
would sell for from $10,000.000 TO
$12,O0O,O00 more to the producer
For example forty head of cattle
weighing $4,000 pounds will never
sell for as much as twenty head Of
cattle weighing 100000. The extra
weight gained by finishing is nearly
all meat.
I'VE had in Florida January l.
1920, 1,5S3,00O hogs, valued at $780,
100000. We sell about onehalf mil
lion hogs per annum. If all the
100000 hogs sold per annum in Flor
ida were up in flesh and bred to tops
they would weigh two or three times
as much as they do and sell from
three to five cents per pound more
and would bring the producers Of
Florida some $24,00o.000 more money
than they do now and would compete
with hogs grown in any section o,
the United States. With proper
breeding, care and feeding we car
produce as much meat in one year a.
we now produce in three years"
When 1t is considered that this ad
vance has been made during the wal
years. when costs of raising livestocl
were at peak never before know
in the South, and that the scarcity o
pure bred stock for breeding wa
such that it was almost impossible a
any time to get improved sires. Flor
ida makes a showing second to N
State in the Union.
And what 1t has done during thes
past three or four years is evidenc
that in the next decade there will b
such forging ahead for the stat
along this line that 1t will take 1t
place near the head OF the column 0
states ranking highest in the indus