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Show Why Ogden is Destined to Be Stockyard Center i t;?alf the SheeD Grazed on the Forest Service of the United States Are Within the District of Which Offden Is Headquarters Hundreds of Thousands of Cattle Ranse in the Region Tributary to This City-Heavy City-Heavy Shrinkage When Livestock Is Shipped East Local Packing House Reaching Out For Trade of the West. The possibilities of Ogden as a lo rcation for stock yards and packing houses rivaling those of Omaha, Kansas Kan-sas City and other Missouri river points have probably not occurred to f the average resident who is not fa- miliar -with the livestock and range resources directly tributary to this 'city. That Ogden is the logical location lo-cation for an industry of this kind is readily apparent, however, when the success which has attended the efforts ef-forts and expenditures of the Ogr u Packing & Provision company are considered, together with the vast (fiocks and herds of sheep and cattle which are tributary to this point. A recent visit to the headquarters of the forest service in this city has tieveloped the fact that so far as the national forests in the western range states are concerned, more grazing business is transacted in the Ogden 'office than any of the other five districts, dis-tricts, and in fact the number of stock grazed on the national forests in the Ogden district equals one-half of all 'the sheep and approximately one-fifth of all the cattle and horses grazed on all the national forests in the United States During the season of 1914. '171,191 head of cattle, with a few horses, and 946,331 head of sheep were authorized to graze on the national forests within the state of Utah; 116,-'200 116,-'200 head of cattle and 1.714,650 sheep on the forests In southern Idaho; 21,-100 21,-100 cattle and 216,500 sheep on the .forests in western Wyoming; 82,000 V cattle and 516,900 sheep on the for- 'j ests in Nevada, and 20,500 cattle and 5 000 sheep on the national forests in the Arizona strip north of the Grand Canyon The total number authorized was 410,991 cattle and 3.419.381 sheep. These numbers of stock were divided among over 11,000 resident stockmen According to forestry officials, the total number of stock grazed on all the national forests amounted to approximately ap-proximately 1,600,000 head of cattle and 7.600,000 sheep and goats includ ' ing a few horses. Thus it will be seen that in the region re-gion immediately tributary to Ogden there are more livestock on the ranges ran-ges wihln the national forests than in probably any area of equal size in the west While the forestry officials have no definite, information on that subject, they state that their observations V have IfMi them to believe that there are at Jeast 880.000 head of cattle and 6.500.000 sheep grazed on the public ranges and national forests in Utah, Nevada, southern Idaho, western Wyoming Wyo-ming and the Arizona strip If these figures are approximately correct, cor-rect, which is undoubtedly the case, since the. foresters have an excellent opportunity to observe the conditions of the livestock industry in the inter-mountain inter-mountain region of which Ugden Is the hub. there is no logical reason why a packing and stock yards business busi-ness of tremendous proportions should not be developed in this city. In fact, the excellent transportation f.i- r-Mities with which Ogden is favored would be an unanswerable argument r in favor of the selection of this poiu' iver any other in the intermountaln region. There are in all probability 200.000 head of cattle, and (,000,000 lambs and mutton sheeps shipped to the eastern and western livestock centers aeh year. The shrinkage on cattle ( in transit is from 50 to 100 pounds. ( and on sheep and lambs from 5 to 6 ( pounds per head, depending upon t lie ( conation of the stock and length of ( the haul. The prevention of this c immense shrinkage which would be t avoided by the establishment of large i packing plants in Ogden capable of handling this output would mean 1 hundreds of thousands of dollars to producers of livestock, as well as su- perior meat product through bettr condition of the stock upon its arrival at the market. ' Another factor which would favor c the establishment of a large packing Industry in this locality, is the favorable favor-able conditions for feeding and finishing fin-ishing operations. Throughout Utah and southern Idaho, hay, sugar beet pulp, wheat, barley, oats and other grains are produced in abundance and there is no reason why they should not be converted In the livestock with the same profit to the producer that lie western country. . In fact, feeds if all kinds, except corn, are pro-luced pro-luced in greater abundance and are hcaper in price in the intermountain ountry than is the case in the mid-lie mid-lie west, where land values are high r and the same variety of feeds is lot produced At the present time lock feeding operations are not ex-ensive ex-ensive on account of the limited ocal market for the finished product "he long haul to the larger markets nth the attendant shrinkage of stock as prevented to a large extent the evelopment of the feeding industry I to the same proportions it would acquire ac-quire if packing plants, capable of handling the output, were located at a central point in the farming and stock raising region. Ogden, by reason of its unexcelled transportation facilities, its location In the center of the livestock producing country and the great possibilities for feeding and finishing operations In the immediate vicinity, offers exceedingly exceed-ingly attractive opportunities for a packing and stock yards business second sec-ond only to Chicago, and with the proper effort there seems to be no good reason why an Industry of this kind can not be developed The progress In that direction as seen at the local packing plant, points to the day wheD the industry shall have grown to great size. At present two carloads of dressed beef is leaving here daily for the Pacific coast, proving prov-ing that gradually the Ogden packing house is gaining a greater radius of influence and winning new markets oo fans as it gave them an opportunity of sizing up the Weber players for the first time In a league game. With no desire to take any credit from the local boys for their victory, it was clear to the discerning fans that the successive games played by Richmond, Rich-mond, against the Boxelder and Og den high schools and the W. A., had sapped its strength and proved that three games in a line are a hard proposition prop-osition for any team to go up against and do creditable work. Trtpp, the regular center of the Cache Valley turn, was used as a forward for the major part of the game. He is an exceptionally fine player in any position posi-tion and starred for his team. The large crowd of fans that attended at-tended the game was well pleased with the work of the Weber academy team. Individually and collectively, the local boys put up a consistent game of ball, their jumping being well judged, basket throwing good and guarding much above the ordi nary. Good team work was shown both in the securing of several baskets bas-kets within a few seconds after the ball had been passed from center, and in the makiDg of several long and well judged throws which also counted points. Nixon, the star center, kept up his reputation as a basket "shooter" by dropping the ball through the ring i i L IDA HkoS f sji BATTLE V$HW H V Fpf E v A b (a Ay V U Ti H NTN J A R;I Z ( N A CTZfiOCHZE P 20,000 Map of Fourth Forest District showing Ogden to be unequal ed Livestock Center. |
