The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1924-06-10
TvF PLACE OF LIVE
cTocK IN AGRICULTURE
on111 ALTON HAS BEEN IN
F0 CPEAs1NG FASTER THAN
HAS DUMB BRUTES.

hing the ratio of live stock to
Ne (Lt;ar IN the United States on the
Popu'- ri hypothetical animal units
oa ,,aI 70 adult cattle in iced require
equa' there was almost exactly one
metls, NAL unit to each person in
SuoH .a I on January l, 1920, says
the IS,,:+ed States department OF agri-
the U IN review of the live stock
cuI' y.;or based on census data and
s s,ber material.
oILlei ,ct,,a numbers there are about
.n';ce as many domestic ANIMALS as
tNlC wi in the United States.
PT2 gga,, the standpoint OF value dairy
FL ore the most important class Of
Ca-', .-tar.. on American farms. As
Ul ',;ng The average family to consist
sun s,.s neople, there is one milk COW
VI ascb family in the country. The
loI ,,sr.es considerably, however, in
l 4'4srent sections. In the cotton belt
u tbare j one dairy cow to So persons.
['0- 10 ~orr and winter wheat regions
!" < ore dairy COW to 6.3 persons;
.'' he corn belt one to "a persons;
!. he hav and dairying regions one
u, oersons. and in the western half
" +be United States one for every
o., oeoole. In Europe the ratio of
5,;rv cows to people is about the same
IN the United States. Beef cattle
st;qh-lv more numerous than dairy
l.t.ls in the United States, but their
value is less.
Oscillation in this country has been
.,-,n,;ng faster than the number of
I've stock in the last thirty ears.
Eror7 1850 TO the decade l884-93, the
numerical relation between people and
i've stock remained the same. Since
then sheen have shown a downward
4-sod the number of swine has re-
,,,s;,ed about stationary, and the num-
bar nj beef cattle has decreased p
osr cent. whereas the population has
Increased % per cent Dairy cattle are
+ba o11y kind Of live stock other than
oorrtrv which have shown a consist
emf increase in numbers since 1880,
Even the dairy cattle increased only
u Der cent from 1890 to 1920, COM
Jared with 68 per cent increase in
noorIa+iou While our population has
increased since 1850 at the rate of
S0l0000 to 100000 people each de-
c7de. the number of live stock has
increased but little, and there has
been an actual decrease in the num-
Der OF beef cattle and sheep.
In the past forty years pasture land
IN the United States has decreased
about 100000 acres a year on the
average. while crop land has increas-
ed about 100000 acres a year. Two
thirds Of the increase in crop land has
come from pasture and one-third from
forest This is an evolution which can
be seen in It's final stages in Japan,
China and India. where there IS al
most no pasture. live stock occupy
only a minor place in farming, and
the forage consists. largely OF crop
residue, and wastes But some coun-
tries with q population much denser
than that Of The United States, notably
portions OF Great Britain and Ireland,
northern France and much OF Ger
many produce forage in about the
same relation TO other crops as does
the United States.
Genera, systems of farming based
on forage crops and live stock have
q recognized superiority over special
lied systems, ~ay officials OF the de-
partment OF agriculture in comment
ing on the trend shown in the forego-
ing statistics, They point out that no
artificial fertilizer can fully replace an
imal manures in maintaining crop
yields. Moreover, many forage crops
are legumes which in decayng add nj
rogen to the soil. The grasses. too,
as their roots decay supply nutriment
Tor bacteria that gather nitrogen from
the air and add it to the soil. 1t is
noted also that the usefulness OF live
stock as consumers of waste on the
farm and as means OF utilizing Tor
age on extensive grass areas is only a
small part Of the value of live stock
III modern agriculture. Their chief inn
poriance, OF course, is in the produc-
ton OF meat hides, milk eggs and
wool, and IN their use as draft ami
mails. This is the real explanation OF
the tact that the product Of seven
'enths OF our tiled land is fed to ami