240 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



Some of the disadvantages which may be urged against live- 

 stock farming, are that the capital required is greater; livestock 

 are subject to disease, and one's entire working capital may perish 

 in a short time ; capital in livestock is also bound up for a longer 

 time and cannot be so readily turned into cash. 



What of the future? Are the present high prices of animal 

 products to continue? Will the demand for all kinds of animals 

 and animal foods diminish, hold its own, or still further increase? 

 It is impossible to predict the financial conditions of the future. 

 It is, however, perfectly safe to say that never in the history of this 

 country has population and consumption been relatively so large 

 as at the present time. Consumption and the consequent demand 

 for animal products have overtaken the supply, and no matter what 

 temporary economic conditions may obtain in the country, the 

 demand for animal products is certain to continue. The day of 

 free range and of unlimited areas of cheap lands is past. More 

 people live in cities, and hence more people are dependent upon 

 purchased food than ever before. There are, therefore, relatively 

 fewer farmers to supply this need. The vast industrial enterprises 

 cannot suddenly collapse. The needs of a civilized and wealthy 

 nation will continue to exist. In the opinion of the writer, there 

 was never a more favorable outlook for animal husbandry on the 

 farms of America than at the present time. Temporary low prices 

 may, and undoubtedly will prevail, but skillfully conducted animal 

 husbandry for a series of years is undoubtedly the most stable and 

 economically sound system of farm management on the American 

 farm at the present time. 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXPORT TRADE IN PURE- 

 BRED LIVE STOCK. 



(By Geo. M. Rommel, Animul Husbandman, Bureau of Animal Industry.) 



The exportation from the United States of meat-bearing ani- 

 mals and horses for city business, farm purposes, and pleasure has 

 for many years been an important factor in our foreign trade. The 

 accepted value of such animals in the world's markets, the rapid 

 improvement of breeding animals in the United States, and the 

 belief of many in the wisdom of providing an opening for the dis- 

 posal of surplus American breeding stock has led to efforts on the 



