THE OFFICIAL RECORD, OCTOBER 22, l'J^t 



scenes of diverse character lenil variety 

 to tlie picturc. Amons tlie characters 

 appoariiie in the film are Thomas Wilson, 

 President of the Institute of America 

 Meat Packers; H. J. Wnters, editor of 

 the woekly Kansas City Star, and others 

 wlio have taken keeu and activo ititerest 

 in the optimistic projeet. By the terms of 

 Colone! Nelson's will the denioiistration 

 is to coutinue for 30 years after his 

 death, 11 years having elapsed up to 

 the present time. 



School Children in Attendance 



The educational valiie ot the Sni-a-Bar 

 demonstration is reflected in the prac- 

 tice of ncighboring schools closing on the 

 day of the demonstration to permit the 

 pnpils to atteiid. A large delegation of 

 youngsters obserred closely the 13 peus 

 of stock and tlie explanations coutaining 

 the hlstory of tlieir breeding. 



In Support of the " Better Sires — 

 l!i>tter Stock " campaign conducted by 

 various States and the United States 

 Department of Agriculture. the nianage- 

 ment of the demonstration has made 

 available' the results obtaincd thus far 

 for usc by the departmcnt and for pub- 

 liration. This action is expeeted to ex- 

 tend greatly the influence which the re- 

 sults of the work at Sni-a-Bar farms is 

 having on the livestock industry. 



E. \V. Sheets, Acting Chief of the 

 Animal Husbandry Division, who repre- 

 resented the department on the program, 

 Said : 



" I want to assure you that the live- 

 stock ofllcials of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture are watching the 

 Sni-a-Bar farms demonstration with llio 

 keeucst interest. It has been au Inspira- 

 tion to know that back of the educational 

 niaterial the department has issued on 

 the subject of purebrod sires, there Is a 

 farm of this kind to which skeptics may 

 be referred sliould any doubt arise as to 

 the influence of heredity and pure breed- 

 ing in livestock betterment. 



■" Niiw that the Sni-a-Bar demonstra- 

 tion has been in Operation for more than 

 10 year.s, we are provided witli more 

 and more conclusive evidence of the 

 soundness of W. R. Nelson's ideas, and 

 what it actually means, not only to the 

 field of beef-cattle production alone, but 

 to the whole agricultural and livestock 

 World. 



" Of interest in this connection is a re- 

 rent compilation of dressing yields of 

 livestock which sliows that uveragc mar- 

 ket cattle at the time of tlie last ccnsus 

 yielded 53.6 per Cent of their live weight 

 in the form of a dressed carcass. 

 Medium steers dresse<l about 55 per cent, 

 good market steers about 58 per cont, 

 and international show 2-year olds 66 

 per Cent. 



"At the other extreme are market cows 

 and hoifers of common grade dressing 

 48 per Cent, and canners are even lower 

 than that. Here we have, In other words, 

 a ränge of fully 18 per cent in the dress- 

 ing yields of cattle. Stated otherwise, 

 it means that the difference in con- 

 formation, which is due chietly to breed- 

 ing, Combi ned with feediug, means 18 

 pounds difference in meat yield for every 

 Iniiulrod ixiuiuls of animal. But even 

 that dilTerence is small compared to the 

 financlal difference due to the relative 

 value of cattle in difTerent grades. 



"A typical calculation betweeu good 

 steers and common steers shows that a 

 difference of per cent of dressed weight 

 in favor of the good steer amounts to 

 about 40 per cent in increased valuc in 

 favor, of cour.se, of the better animal. 

 Here is an economic condition which is 

 worthy of serious study. It plainly 

 places a substantial premium on the 

 iirecders' and feeders' skill. We have 

 known of tliese facts in a general way in 

 the past, but defiuite figures make them 

 more tangible and impressive." 



Weather Reports Indispensable 



To " ZR-3 " in Ocean Flight 



The Weather Bureau of the depart- 

 ment, in Cooperation with the aerologi- 

 eal section, Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy 

 Department, provided indispensable aid 

 to the airship ZR-3 in her recent Cross- 

 ing of the Atlantic in the .shape of an 

 ofTicient special metcorological scrvice. 

 The Navy Department stationed tliree 

 naval vessels at important points in 

 the North Atlantic, and arranged with 

 the United States Shipping Board and 

 the Atlantic steamship companies to 

 have their ships send weather reports 

 to the naval ves.sels during the flight 

 of the airship. The Weather Bureau, 

 (in its part, undertook the preparation 

 of appropriate weather advices. Four 

 times dally the naval vessels in the 

 North Atlantic collectod weather reports 

 froni ships within radio ränge. Twice 

 oach day tliese reports were Condensed 

 into one mcssage and forwarded by 

 Navy radIo to Washington. The naval 

 vessels included in this niessage to 

 Washington reports of their own ob- 

 servations, which comprised soundings 

 of the upper-air currents at altitudes 

 at which the airship was likely to fly. 



In Washington the w-eather reports 

 were plotted and a weather map of the 

 North Atlantic was drawn. By use of 

 this map, the forecasters of the Weather 

 Bureau, in cnnsultation with the Bureau 

 of Aeronautics of the Navy Department, 

 preiiared twice daily a summary of 

 weather conditions along the palh of 



the airship. The summary contained 

 Information enabling tlie airship to 

 select the most favorable course and to 

 avoid opposing winds. This summary 

 was broadcast by the Navy Department 

 in a special message to the airship twice 

 daily from the Annapolis radio Station. 

 The ZIi-3 was also able at any time to 

 ohtain weather information by communi- 

 cating with the naval vessels stationed in 

 the Nortli Atlantic, which had naval 

 aerological personnel aboard to prepare 

 such data. 



The metcorological Service carried out 

 in connection with this flight will doubt- 

 less help to crystallize the mothods nf 

 weather iciiorts and warnings that niusf 

 eventually become a routine praclice in 

 ( onnection with siiuilar undertakings. 



STUDY SHOWS GAS TAX IS POPULÄR 



Since the abolitlon of the old furn- 

 pikes and toll roads, a new movement to 

 produce liighway revenue has started 

 through the enactment of laws pmvid- 

 ing for a tax upon the sale of gasoline 

 used as motor-vehicle fuel. That this 

 has come to be quite a populär source of 

 revenue is iudicated by figures rccently 

 cüUected by the Bureau of Public Uoads, 

 showing tlie great increase in tlie num- 

 ber of States eoUecting this tax and the 

 amount of revenue thus ohtained. 



In 1919 two States — Oregon and Colo- 

 rado — passed a gasoline tax law; this 

 year, 1924, there are 35 States and the 

 District of Columbia which are eoUect- 

 ing this kind of tax. In other words, 

 73 per cent of the States have in elTect 

 a gasoline tax ; and these States have 

 a rural road mileage of 1,954,880 niiles, 

 comprising 06.5 per cent of the total 

 rural highway mileage of the country. 



This tax has also proved to be an im- 

 portant source of revenue which is in- 

 creasing at a rapid rate. The gross re- 

 turns for .Tuly 1, 1924s when compared 

 with similar figures for .Tuly 1, 1923. 

 Show an increase of 273 per cent. Dur- 

 ing the registration year to ,Tuly 1, 1924. 

 the sum of .$32,430,410.37 was collected. 

 the returns ranging from 1 cent per gal- 

 lon In 8 States. 2 cents per gallon in 15 

 States and the District of Columbia, 2% 

 cents per gallon in 2 States. 3 cents per 

 gallon in 9 States, and 4 cents per gal- 

 lon in 1 State. Of tlie total ri>llected, 

 .$20,00.1,581.29, or about 62 per cent, was 

 made available for expenditure by or 

 under the supcrvision of the respective 

 State highway departments. 



In severaj States parts of the pro- 

 ceeds of tlie gasoline tax are diverted 

 to other purposes than State-supervised 

 highway construction or maintenance. 

 and in one State the entire amount col- 

 lected Is diverted to other purposes, 



