678 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



years in the sheep feeding business and I am afraid this fall "fools will 



rush is where angels fear to tread" — with an apology to the angels. 



"Don't be in too great a hurry to buy, I think there will be plenty of 



feeders to go around, and next spring you may be glad you did not get 



all you wanted. 



"I believe I have told you about all I know about sheep feeding, and 



I hope you will ask me any amount of questions, which I will answer to 



the best of my ability. 



"Will you bear with me if in conclusion I digress a little and touch 



upon a subject which, although closely allied with our interests, does not 



pertain exactly to sheep feeding? 



"We have of late heard so much about the 'beef trust,' which of 



course, also includes mutton. I own no stock in any packing house and 



am not here as an advocate of the packers. But I am a firm believer in 



the inexorable law of supply and demand, and I also believe that the 



surplus to a great extent determines the price. 



"America is still, in spite of the great increase in our manufactures 

 during the last decade, and agricultural community, the products of 

 the farm ranch and plantation forming 60 per cent of our total exports. 

 The exploitation of foreign markets is therefore a matter of prime impor- 

 tance to our farmers and stock raisers. This work is carried on to an 

 extent that is perhaps not generally realized outside of the larger pack- 

 ers and firms engaged in the export trade. It may bring the truth home 

 to us more clearly if I mention some details obtained from one of the 

 big packers. 



"It is the practice of this firm to have representatives continually 

 visiting the many markets of the world w^here sale of American meats 

 is possiuie. In some of those markets whei-e the trade in American 

 meats is long established, with salaried men of ability and knowledge 

 of the business in charge. 



'But the greatest attention is given to those markets where our pro- 

 ducts have as yet obtained only the slightest footing and where their 

 sale is attended with many obstacles. To such places men expert in 

 their particular line of business are continually going, at great expense, 

 and, too frequently, with discouraging result. In this manner, however, 

 new markets are continually being opened to us, and the customary 

 experience is a gradual growth in trade with such places unless when 

 legislation in the shape of prohibitive import duties, intervenes. 



"Several foreign countries at the present time have absolute or 

 restrictive tariff on our meats. For instance, Germany absolutely prohib- 

 its' the importation of canned goods and sausages. Dressed beef, mutton 

 and pork must consist of the entire animal, accompained by the lungs, 

 heart, liver, kidneys, etc., in one piece. Cured meats are burdened with 

 heavy inspection fees, which in some cases increase the import duty a- 

 about 100 per cent. In France the duties on American meats were recent- 

 ly increased 80 per cent, which practically prohibits importation. The 

 duties in Austro Hungary, Italy, Spain and Switzerland are nearly pro- 

 hibitive. 



