792 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



will be the great staple. In relation to other edible meats, beef 

 occupies much the same ratio as corn to other cereals. Hence, to 

 a convention of earnest investigating live slock breeders the ques- 

 tion of the enlargement and improvement of the meat supply and an 

 adequate and remunerative market for it, is of more vital interest 

 than to speculate on the probable result of a contest between an 

 army U-i\ on prime beef and one filled with roots and cereals. 



When one reads of the enormous receipts of live stock at our 

 market centers, the impression is likely to result that the supply is 

 out-stripping the demand. During 1005 nearly 17,000,000 cattle, 

 sheep and hogs were received at the Union Stock Yards at Chicago, 

 being an increase over the receipts of 1004 of more than 1,100,000 

 head. But while the increase in the meat supply has been very 

 large, the belief is held by many well-informed stockmen that 

 the population of the world is increasing at a more rapid rate than 

 its meat supply. It would be difficult to prove this theory by sta- 

 tistics in our own country alone, owing to the uncertainty and ap- 

 parent inaccuracy of estimates of cattle prior to 1001, at which time 

 a different and, we hope, more accurate system of taking the enume 

 ration of cattle was inaugurated. In 1878 when our population was 

 about 48,000,000, we had 30,000,000 cattle, or about 030 cattle to each 

 1,000 of population. This number increased annually by one to three 

 million head until 1803, when 54,067,590 were reported. From that 

 time our stock of cattle decreased until 1000 when but 43,900,000 

 were enumerated. The estimate of 1901, under the new system of 

 taking cattle census, shows an enormous increase, raising the num- 

 ber from 43,900,000 to 07,000,000. The increase of over 23,000,000 

 in one year gives ground for doubting the accuracy of former esti- 

 mates. From 1902 the enumeration has shown no great change in 

 the number of cattle, and in 1905 61,240,000 were reported. But 

 whether this increased ratio of population over that of cattle can 

 be proven in our own country, it can be easily established in the 

 more densely populated countries of Europe, and while the meat 

 suppl}' is capable of immense expansion, the hungry mouths of the 

 world's teeming millions are also rapidly increasing and are demand- 

 ing food. But with an}' country that produces more than its own 

 people cau consume, the question of supreme importance is a foreign 

 market, and the prices at which the surplus can be sold in a foreign 

 market fixes, in a large measure, the value of the product put on 

 the domestic market, and when the export demand is restricted or 

 destroyed, loss and disaster are sure to result. This axiom of trade 

 cannot be too strongly emphasized. During past years the foreign 

 demand has taken a considerable portion of our surplus products 

 of grain and meats, but the certainty of having German and other 

 European markets closed against us presents a crisis that should in- 

 terest the entire agricultural class of America. It is a condition, 

 and a profoundly serious one, that confronts us. The ! German gov- 

 ernment has officially informed the United States that the agree- 

 ment whereby we can export our products at the minimum tariff 

 rate will cease March 1st unless a reduction be made in our tariff 

 rates. In other words, Germany believes in reciprocity that recipro- 

 cates. While our trade with Germany has not been so large as 

 with Great Britain, yet it has been considerable, and has absorbed 

 a large portion of our surplus. We have been selling Germany, 



