Salt Lake Tribune | 1914-02-03 | Page 6 | Fewer Meat Animals

I FEWER MEAT ANIMALS. The future meat supply of the United Stairs is beginning to become a source of worry to the agricultural department. depart-ment. While the population of the couu-try couu-try is rapidly increasing, the number of cuttle, thcep and swine has been dc-.- creasing since 3910. The fact that owing ow-ing to. tho prevailing high prices the j vaiuo of thft cattle in tho countrj' has i increased in spite of tho reduced num-; num-; her is held by the department not to j have benefited the producer because '. the cost of production is also much The causes assigned for the scarcity of meat animals arc nian-. In the first j place, for several years the farms have been cucroacbtng upon range territory. 1 Secondly, tho industry suffers from lack I. of a proper range leasing law. Then comes tho shortage in tho corn and forage crop in Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Increased value of land and higher cost of labor and stock-feed; stock-feed; decline in stock, raising on tho farms in the Hast and South hecauso of poor marketing facilities; the temptation tempta-tion to sfdl stock at tho prevailing high prices, and tho enormous losses from hoc cholera arc also pointed ont'by the experts as having bcon important factors fac-tors in bringing about; the prosont situation. situa-tion. Tn common with tho oilier Western States, Utah is vitally interested in all that pertains to tho raising and marketing mar-keting of sheep and cattle, if the present range-leasing Jaw is unsatisfactory unsatis-factory and a detriment to tho raising of moat animals, aud thorn sooms to bo little doubt about the matter, it should bo rnpealcd ai. once and a more .ist and equitable- arrangement made. The wool-growers' wool-growers' convention in Salt Jjalto and the livestock growers' convention al Denver recently discussed this very mailer, and committees were appointed to put the lads and figures beforo the proper authorities. Now that thb department de-partment of agriculture has acknowledged acknowl-edged that the leasing law is lamo tho present would scorn to bo tho proper timo for tho curing of tho defects. Undoubtedly tho new tariff, law will not encourago the raising of cattle and sheep in tho future, but frco trado in tho last fovr months does not account for tho decreased production which has been going on since 1030. It would have boon much better for tho "West in tho long run, ho.wovcr, had moderate counsels provailcd when the Underwood bill was drawn. Even a To per cent ad valorem rate on wool would havo stimulated stimu-lated tho Hheep-raising industry al the present-time and tended to bring about an increase in tho flocks. If the Secretary of Agriculture has any remedy to proposo in addition to amending the grazing law, which, although al-though of prime importance, will not suffice to restore normal conditions, he should lose no time in taking tho public into his confidence.