248 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



DISTRIBUTION AND MOVEMENT 



OF 



NEAT CATTLE IN THE UNITED STATES 



BY SILAS L. LOOMIS, A. M., M. D. 



Whatever constantly aids the progress of civilization, however feeble its 

 force, is of vital importance to a community. But whenever anything is found 

 that exerts a controlling power, it ought to be carefully investigated, and thor- 

 oughly examined in all its bearings^. 



The supply of food occupies the larger portion of the energies of the human 

 race, and it must be provided for in all communities to secure their prosperity, 

 happiness, and advancement. If the constitution of a community is such that 

 all its energies are absorbed in the production of food and clothing, all its 

 sources of improvement will remain closed, and the community will be at a 

 stand still. No time is left to cultivate the mind, and from exhaustive physi- 

 cal labor it readily relapses into a state of barbarism. On the other hand, 

 when a community is so constituted that all its energies are not required to 

 feed and clothe its subjects,, the mind is cultivated, sources of prosperity multi- 

 ply, and the nation gradually rises to the highest rank in the civilized world. 



In the United States, our fertile and extensive agriciiltural lands, while covered 

 with a comparatively sparse population, have yielded fabulous crops from a virgin 

 soil. Large profits being thus easily obtained, it has not been deemed necessary 

 to husband resources, and the soil has been allowed to become exhausted, thus 

 creating large tracts of so-called worn out lands in a great number of States. 



In a similar manner many aids to civilization may be carelessly neglected, and 

 although advanc'ement may not be at the time perceptibly checked, it will soon 

 become apparent. Hence the agriculturist should avail himself of every means 

 of information within his reach, that he may carefully gather up all the varied 

 resources of his country, and reduce the time and strength necessary for the 

 production of food and clothing within the smallest limits, thereby giving 

 greater scope to the development and enjoyment of his and his country's in- 

 tellectual and moral forces. 



In this view the importance which is attached to the agi'icultural interests of 

 a country is more clearly comprehended. The greater the improvements made 

 in implements of agriculture, the more completely the crops are adapted to 

 the soil and climate, the more the facilities of communication are increased, 

 and the more accurately the agricultural statistics of a nation are obtained, the 

 more will the nation advance with all its other interests. 



To aid in this general development, by discussing some of the statistics 

 gathered by the Census bureau in the years 1840, 1850, and 1860, is the object 

 of the present article. It is not claimed that these statistics are absolutely 

 correct, but the error is so small comparatively that the general deductions must 

 be true, and the laws which are developed may be relied upon. These laws 

 will be found to be of vital importance, and the more so as it is the first time 

 they have been placed within our reach. 



For the first time we have learned that in the United States every one hun- 

 dred people require eighty neat cattle ; that eight of these cattle must be work- 

 ing oxen, and that this requirement has not varied a single per cent, in thirty 

 years ; that twenty-eight of the eighty must be milch cows, and that this num- 

 ber has not varied one per cent, for the past thirty years. For the first time 

 we are enabled to know where a demand for neat cattle exists, and whence a 



