ELEVENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART IV. 123 



It may be interesting to review briefly some radical changes which have 

 taken and are taking place with reference to the food of the population 

 of the United States. 



The savage subsisted chiefly upon game and fish. The first white 

 settlers did likewise. Even the ranchman frequently lived on a diet 

 largely composed of meat. The larger use of cereals, vegetables, and 

 fruit has come with the development of the country and the knowledge 

 of the possibility of successfully growing these foodstuffs. It has come 

 also, I am bound to say, with the more general appreciation of the health- 

 fulness of a mixed diet, as compared with one composed largely of meat. 

 Nor should the science and art of cookery be robbed of its share of credit 

 for this apparent change. I say apparent, because it is doubtful whether 

 statistics are available to prove that the tendency of our people at present 

 is to consume a smaller proportion of meat. Is it not safe to assume 

 that this fact is so apparent that it needs no proof? A lessened per capita 

 consumption of meat, if such there be, is not due primarily to the in- 

 creased intelligence of the people with reference to dietetics, but to the 

 increased cost of meat. It has increased in price from what was virtually 

 the cheapest article of diet to what is substantially the most expensive. 

 Financial considerations, then, are chiefly responsible for the change. 

 This fact is significant because the producer can, if he will, get an indi- 

 cation of the attitude of the masses toward any particular article of diet. 

 To be sure, the appetite will largely indicate what articles of food will 

 be purchased, provided the disparity in price is not great. But as soon 

 as the price of an article of diet rises to a point where it is clearly rela- 

 tively high as compared with other foodstuffs whi'ch can be substituted 

 for it, there is sure to be a lessened demand for the high-priced article. 



Agriculturally speaking, the United States is a new country; at any 

 rate, sufficiently new to have failed to settle into systems of farming 

 which are looked upon as reasonably permanent. This has been inev- 

 itable. 



The rapid agricultural development of the west by ranchers and home- 

 steaders, the reclamation and railroad projects, have all kept the eastern 

 and middle western farmer busy determining what line of agriculture he 

 ought to follow to secure greatest profits. Our country is, however, now 

 rapidly nearing a stage in its development when production and market 

 conditions will be more stable. Along with this probable fact, the grow- 

 ing intelligence of the farmer is an encouraging factor. 



A comprehensive inquiry among farmers throughout the state of Illi- 

 nois, conducted under the direction of the writer, shows conclusively that 

 on the whole there is a widespread tendency to breed and feed less live- 

 stock. What is true in Illinois is true to a lesser extent throughout the 

 corn belt. Briefly stated, the causes which have most largely contributed 

 in bringing about this condition are: 



1. For brief periods grain farming has been more profitable than live- 

 stock production, because, temporarily, the price of feeds used largely in 

 the production of livestock have been relaitvely higher in price than 

 animal products. These relatively higher prices for grain have caused a 



