112 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



teachers much, though. I have known a farmer to go past a school 

 house two days in a week to see how a tennant Avas feeding a car- 

 load of hogs, but he never stopped to see how the teacher was feed- 

 ing hi^ children. 



President Sykes : If there is nothing further on the subject, we 

 will now listen to an address on "The Evolution of Live Stock 

 Transportation," by James E. Downing, of the United States 

 Bureau of Animal Industry. Mr. Downing is in the employ of 

 our Uncle Jim AVilson, you know, and he must be pretty nearly 

 right if he is working for Uncle Jim. 



THE EVOLUTION OF LIVE STOCK TRANSPORTATION. 

 James PI Downing, Washington, D. C. 



Mr. Downing: Mr. President and Gentlemen: Tt has always 

 been my ambition to at some time in my life be able to stand up 

 before a body of men such as are here today and talk offhand, as 

 Uncle Henry has; but every time that I have been called on to 

 contribute to a program something has come up that has taken my 

 time, so that I have been unable to commit my speech to memory, 

 and this afternoon I will have to ask your indulgence while I confine 

 my attention to the manuscript. 



Getting the steer to market is a task which has occupied the hands 

 of stock raisers for many years. At a time within the memory no doubt 

 of some hero today cattle and shoep could be sold in distant markets only 

 after they had been driven on hoof a long journey that sometimes 

 stretched into a thousand or even fifteen hundred miles. Between the 

 then and the now of live stock transportation there have been many 

 changes and developments. They came slowly at first, but how they 

 came constitutes one of the interesting stories of the country's growth. 

 And while today's methods appear crowded with important problems and 

 contentions, it is patent to all that great strides have been made in this 

 very important industry. 



At this time permit me to direct your attention to two periods of live 

 stock transportation history in the United States since the establishment 

 of railroads. A marked characteristic of the first period was the injury 

 caused through lack of accommodations and the faulty methods of man- 

 aging the traffic. The suffering and death of animals on the way, and the 

 unhealthy condition of many delivered at their destination, called forth 

 much comment and many efforts for relief during the years following the 

 civil war. The second period, the present time, is characterized by special 

 built cars for comfort and speed with a view of delivering the animals 

 in the best possible physical condition. The advent of railroads marked 



