The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-04-04

the last few weeks steaks and
chops Of reindeer, venison have
been offered on the menus Of local
restaurants. 40 they have been or
soon will be in other cities. The
prices are not much higher than
for beef. and there IL . good pros
pect that in . few years Alaska REIN
deer meat will be in the market in
sufficient quantities materially TO
affect the prices Of beet and NUT
ton.
Scientists here point ont that this
advent Of a new meat on The market
has a great significance, which II
apt to be overlooked by the con-
sumner. This venison 10 being pro-
duced on lands which 30 years ago
produced no meat except = few
seals. and so little food of'any kind
that the few Eskimos who inhabited
the region were starving. Now it
is producing meat for export. And
there are tens Of thousands Of
square miles Of wild land in the
United States which are now pro-
ducing nothing. and which could
likewise be made to produce great
quantities of meat At low cost by
the simple expedient Of conserving
the animal life natural to them.
This has been pointed out again and
again BY scientists, but has made
no impression SO far upon the gen
eral public.
Consider first the case OF the
reindeer. N 1899 the Eskimos of
the northern coast of Alaska were
in starving condition. The seals
and walruses which had always
furnished them with food had been
almost exterminated by white hunt
ers. The bureau Of education saw
that in Lapland. where climatic
and other conditions are almost ex-
actly the same as in Alaska, the
reindeer furnished the natives with
an adequate means OF subsistence.
A few reindeer were accordingly in
trodueed into northern Alaska,
There are now tens of thousands OF
them there. the Eskimos have been
converted into civilized and self
supporting men by the industry OF
caring for them, and an increasing
surplus Of reindeer meat is being
shipped to the United States every
year.
This has all been done under the
direction of the bureau OF education
, in the department Of the interior
Mr.. Sheldon jackson being the in
dividual who deserves most credit
for the singularly successful under.
taking. It illustrates the fact that
the first step in improving the con.
dition of men is to solve their econ
omic problem.
Food From Waste.
But the thing we are now con,
cerned with is the fact that the bar.
zen northern'waste was turned into
a food-producing region by thu
method Of introducing into it the
kind Of meat animals that could
survive there, and carefully bring
ing them to the highest state o.
abundance possible.
In the United States the range
of lands that are suitable Tor cat.
tie and sheep have long been sup.
porting as many Of those animals
as they can. The population of the
country grows, but the meat supply
does not. We are therefore forced
to import more and more beef ant
mutton every year, and the price
of meat constantly rises.
Sheep and cattle are prairie ami
mails, which can make but littl'
use of woodland, because they feet
on grass. There are millions o
acres of woodland in the United
States They lie in great bodies il
the Rocky Mountain region, in tn
Alleghanies, and in the northern
tier of eastern and central states
and in smaller bodies scattered al
over the country, These woodlan,
regions produce practically no foo
at all. A few cattle and sheep rang
through them, browsing in the opel
places, but that is all. They are no
adapted to the raising Of cattle ant
sheep.
But they are superbly adapted t,
raising Of deer and moose. Thes
animals, you must understand, d,
not live upon grass but upon trees