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Show ETA P M I t 31 ' BEEF CATTLE ARE FEWER ON FARMS Increase Seen as Prices for Meat Are Higher. The beginning of this year found fewer beef cattle on farms and ranges in the United States than at any previous previ-ous time for half a century. There were then only about 24,000.000 head In the country. Dntler the influence of higher prices for beef, the number is now beginning to increase, according accord-ing to figures collected by C. R. Arnold of the rural economics department of , the Ohio State university. In summaiizing the history of the ' beef cycle in the United States Arnold Ar-nold has found that in 18!)S more than 40,000,000 beef cattle were on the farms and ranges of the country. This number declined to about 33,000,000 animals in 1904, and then started up again under the influence of strengthening prices. By 1007 the number num-ber hud again risen to about 38,000,000 head. Low prices again caused a drop to about 27,000,000 head in 1914. War demands raised prices and the herds increased to a total of about 36.000,000 head in 1919. Sudden cessation of the war time demand dropped the price, and numbers and prices declined together to-gether until they were exceptionally low from 1920 to 19261 The beef cattle cycle extends over a long period of years, Arnold points out, because the number of cattle cannot can-not be increased as rapidly as the number of hogs or sheep. "It seems evident that we will have a larger number of cattle within the next few years, but it seems doubtful doubt-ful that we can expect low prices for beef cattle for at least two or three years, because the number which we have at the present time on ranges Is so exceptionally low," says Arnold. |