Show KEEP CLOSER TAR TAB ON LIVESTOCK LIVE STOCK government to change system of estimates WILL BE MORE THOROUGH instead of ono one estimate a year for the 48 states there will be 12 covering the agricultural counties Count lea in the united states statistics will show age and sex clas as well as ae quality prepared by br the united states department ot of agriculture up to this time the united states mates deportment of agriculture has haa issued a 0 single estimate in january ot ol each year s showing howing how many lead head 0 of if the various kinds of 11 live vo stock thero ther 0 are in tho the united states and one estimate a y year ar showing losses by disease now the whole system Is to be changed As soon ns as the machinery can be gov in operation by the bureau of crop estimates there will be 12 livestock live stock estimates a year instead of one instead of being made for the 48 states they will be made for the agricultural counties in the united states instead of showing merely that there are so ninny many horses so BO many cattle so many sheep and so on they will b lade inde by age and classifications that chat Is they will show what proportion Is breeding stock what proportion growing stock and what proportion marketable stuff they will show quality as well as numbers the proportions of purebred animals of grade animals and of scrubs A great deal more than that even Is to be done under the new system these surveys will show besides actual livestock live stock figures a grent great many things pertaining to and affecting the ilia lire stock industry thoy they will show how many silos thero there are and what they contain how much feed Is on hand blind and lit in prospect available for feeding to live stock and tile the condition of pastures and ranges throughout I 1 the united states this showing will be made every month in the year pasture Know knowledge lidge vital the last mentioned item that of tit the 0 condition ot of ims pastures tures and ranges Is of much golater gt Later importance thin than at first blush leaving all of the others out alit of account for the moment it should result in considerable of livestock live stock production as well its as increased profits to a geat many livestock live stock men it will alke possible quick shifts of live stock from sections where for some reason the pastures are short to other sections where for the time heing being tho the supply of pasturage pastur ngo Is much greater than required by the live stock on hand almost every year somewhere in the united states great numbers of cattle and sheep suffer for lack of pasture tall fall to put on weight and it if they do not die are finally sold nt at a consider able loss to their owners at tho the same time that tills this Is going on multiplied millions of dollars worth of grass goes to waste in various other sections of the united states because tile the supply of live stock on hand Is not sufficient to eat it the average farmer who makes live stock a side line or even one of ills hla main lines plays sate safe in tile the matter of pasture the number of head of live stock he carries carilea Is the number he be knows he be can carry safety safely if conditions should happen to be such as to cut ills his pastures short very rarely does ho he carry the maximum number that would be possible with his ans pastures at their best or even at normal it happens therefore when his big pastures tures are arc exceptionally goof good and anc even when they are normally good lie he has considerably more grass than la Is needed by tits live stock with reliable monthly reports from the government each month showing just the condition of pastures everywhere the feeder or range owner who finds himself short of grass should have little difficulty in distributing ills his cattle where there la Is abundance of grass keeping ills hla young and poor stuff from going to the slaughter pen before they tire are rendy ready and generally making his business more profitable and more satisfactory more important work planned all of tho the other items in tile tho now new program of tho the bureau of crop estimates are equally important and some same 0 of f them are vastly more so the publication li cation monthly of reliable figures showing the livestock live stock situation tho the auntry over should result practically in putting the alve livestock live stock business of the farmer on a more secure basis the ahva stock dealer always lias has the means of getting on ills own responsibility lity a pretty accurate survey of the situation but tho ilia farmer has no access to those sources of information when the government jires him the figures that are promised lie ho will vill be on nn an equal footing with the buyer it if there were ever zay doubt as to the ability of the deportment dep of agriculture to td obtain quickly and accurately countrywide country wide information on present and prospective food supplies the doubt has been dispelled tile the war emergency demonstrated the matter very clearly during the two years 1017 1917 and 1018 1918 the department estimated in advance ot of the planting season the acreage that camers intended to plant to food crops in both years thebie estimates came witha 8 per pep cent of the final figu figures reg in |