62 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



POINTS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE ECONOMIC PRODUCTION 



OF BEEF. 



W. J. Kennedy, Ames, Iowa. 



A prominent statistician, in a recent report, has very clearly shown 

 that the greatest gain in wealth, education and population in this coun- 

 try has taken place in those states where farming and the production 

 of first-class live stock are being carried on together. This has been 

 amply illustrated throughout the corn belt states and in this respect 

 we as Iowa people may well be proud of the fact that our state stands 

 first and foremost of them all. When comparisons are made in almost 

 every instance Iowa is used as an illustration of what live stock, when 

 properly bred and cared for, can do for the farmer. 



Notwithstanding the fact that we are in the very front rank, we 

 still have a great deal to learn regarding the production of the various 

 kinds of meat producing animals. High priced farm lands and stren- 

 uous competition from many sources are daily making the profitable 

 production of meat a more difficult problem. Things are very much dif- 

 ferent to what they used to be when land was worth from twenty to 

 forty dollars per acre and corn could be purchased for twenty cents per 

 bushel. In order that we may successfully meet these changed condi- 

 tions which have been brought about by the marked advances in the 

 value of farm property our former methods may have to undergo some 

 modification. Not that the stock men who bred and fed animals during 

 the last two decades were ignorant men and did not understand their 

 business. They, as a class, were just as intelligent and solved the prob- 

 lems which confronted them in a much better way than most of our men 

 are doing today. Old time methods which can be successfully applied 

 under present conditions must not be replaced by new and untried the- 

 ories. Before adopting any method, new or old, we should consider very 

 carefully as to what the outcome will be; as to where we will land 

 should we follow the same. In this connection I am reminded of an 

 epitaph which is to be found in a cemetery in old Virginia which reads 

 as follows: 



"Remember, man, as you pass by, 

 As you are now, so once was I; 

 As I am now, so you must be; 

 Prepare for death and follow me." 



The Virginia epitaph, however, has received an addition in the fol- 

 lowing couplet which has been written below the original in a clear, 

 old-fashioned hand: 



"To follow you is not my intent, 

 Until I know which way you went." 



Just so in the live stock business; before following the methods of 

 those who have been successful we must be sure of what the outcome 

 will be \inder the present conditions. 



