PROSPECTS OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 257 



for his products. He is sure of a fair compensation for his labor, 

 skill and intelligence. 



But this does not satisfy our young farmers. They see their 

 brother and friends winning wealth and distinction in other pur- 

 suits, and they ask if there are any prizes to be won in agricul- 

 ture. 



I believe there are in farming as great and as many opportuni- 

 ties for "doing good and making money," as in any other business 

 of life. We are apt to think that all the past discoveries and in- 

 ventions have been made. We think that Bakewell, the Collings, 

 Ellman, Jonas Webb, llammond and others in the past have so 

 improved on cattle and sheep that there is nothing more for us to 

 do except to retain and perpetuate the improvement. There can- 

 not be a greater mistake. Notwithstanding all that science and 

 art have done, the production of flesh, meat and fat is still a very 

 costly operation. To convert the carbon of grass and corn into 

 the carbon of fat and butter, we have at present to submit to a 

 great loss. Even with our best breeds of cattle and sheep, our 

 most experienced feeders have to submit to a loss of at least 90 

 per cent, of the albuminoids of the food. In other words, if you 

 feed a steer or a sheep a quantity of grass and grain containing 100 

 pounds of nitrogen, you rarely get in the growth of the animal 

 consuming the food an amount of flesh, skin, hair and wool con- 

 taining 10 pounds of nitrogen. The other 90 pounds are, to a 

 large extent, used to "run the machine " Is there no chance for 

 improvement here ? We have the experience of the past and the 

 science of the future to aid us. We have not to grope our way in 

 the dark as Bakewell did. We know what we want, and in what 

 direction to look for it. Depend upon it, we shall yet have breeds 

 of cattle, sheep, swine and poultry far superior as meat, milk and 

 wool producers to an3'thing the world has yet seen. There are 

 great opportunities for the young farmer of the present and the 

 future. We have in this country seen a single cow sell at public 

 auction for over $40,000; and I suppose it is a fact that the late 

 Mr. Hammond refused $30,000 for one of his rams. In one of the 

 northern counties of New York, where the thermometer goes 

 down 40 degrees below zero, an American breeder had a choice 

 herd of Shorthorn cattle. An English breeder purchased part of 

 the herd at a high figure, by telegraph. And only a few days ago 

 an American breeder "cabled" to a brother breeder in England 

 IT 



