344 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



South America are short, while in this country the range territory is being 

 rapidly restricted audits ability to supply mutton and wool is unequal to the 

 demand. Henceforth, America must depend more and more upon its farm- 

 ing sections for sheep, which, if well-bred and well cared for, will prove 

 especially profitable to the. small farmer as a means of increased income and 

 soil fertility. 



The success attending the efforts of the Chicago market to induce the 

 farmers of Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and surrounding states to avail 

 themselves of the profits of sheep feeding, and at the same time utilize farm 

 by-products which have heretofore been wasted, evidenced by the growth of 

 the business at this point, has proved both popular and profitable. 



HORSES. 



Larger receipts, and active trade and better prices characterized the Chi- 

 cago horse market during the year just closed. It made the most creditable 

 showing of any department of Chicago's livestock interests. Being unaf- 

 fected by the labor troubles, it continued to prosper the year through. The 

 unusual dullness which marked the closing months of 1903 passed away, leav- 

 ing a clear field for 1904. The results of the year's business were very satis- 

 factory, and every indication points to a continuation of good business. 



There is a great and growing demand for good horses possessed of 

 proper breeding and conformation, for both domestic use and export. The 

 automobile has had no appreciable effect on horse values. The world's 

 production of horses has not kept pace with the growing demands of in- 

 creasing populations. On the other hand the many popular horse shows 

 and live stock expositions, where the finest specimens of the equine race are 

 displayed to admiring multitudes, have raised the ideals of the people and 

 increased their desire for possession of more horses and better horses than 

 ever before, so that a higher standard of excellence is demanded of breeders 

 and dealers generally. 



American consumers now pay fully as much for good horses of all classes as 

 foreign customers. On the other hand there is an increasing foreign demand 

 for American-bred horses . Breeders and dealers are studying the requirements 

 of the market more closely than ever before, and the International Livestock 

 Exposition and other superb horse shows have proved to be immensely valu- 

 able in bringing together the ideas of producers and customers. All horse in- 

 terests are alive to the splendid opportunities now before them. In fact, at 

 no time in the history of the horse industry were conditions more favorable 

 for uninterrupted prosperity than the present. 



