NEAT CATTLE. 249 



supply may be obtained. Hitherto the supply has met thQ demand without 

 any definite knowledge of what value was demanded or from what source it 

 could be best supplied. The deficiencies or excesses existing in each State 

 were only very generally or- vaguely known, and we rested satisfied while we 

 ought to have availed ourselves of every means to prevent the diminution of 

 the supply already become largely deficient. For example, Massachusetts had 

 less than one-half the requisite number of neat cattle within her limits in the 

 year 1840. In the year 1850 she had less than one-third, and in 1860 but 

 about one-fourth the number of cattle required for the support of her popula- 

 tion. She must therefore import beef, butter, and cheese, having a very scanty 

 allowance of milk. 



But where will she obtain these articles 1 N'ew York, Pennsylvania, New 

 Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, have not enough to supply their 

 own wants. Massachusetts must, therefore, actually transport to supply her 

 deficiencies from an immense distance. She must reach into our western re- 

 gions, and outbid in price all intervening demand. An interesting question 

 here arises, and one of significance to her farmers: Cannot her worn-out waste 

 lands be made to produce beef, butter, cheese, and milk, at a less cost than to 

 transport so far 1 Cannot the money expended in transportation and profits 

 be more advantageously disbursed within her own borders ? 



Neat cattle exist in the United States only as domesticated animals. Thoy 

 are kept principally to supply the demand for beef, butter, cheese, and milk. 

 These articles being consumed wholly by the people, and the personal demand 

 being a constant quantity, the ratio between the people and cattle must be con- 

 stant whatever the number of people may be. That is, the personal demand 

 is the direct ratio of the population to the cattle, and that ratio must be nearly 

 constant, whether the population be ten millions or thirty millions. In the 

 United States this ratio is 80 per cent., that is, every one hundred people re- 

 quire 80 cattle. 



Whenever people aggregate faster than cattle, whether in cities, manufactur- 

 ing districts, or from other causes, or whenever the population of a district in- 

 creases faster than cattle are produced, a deficiency must occur. Into such dis- 

 tricts cattle must be imported, and the prices of beef, butter, cheese, and milk, 

 will depend upon the distance it is necessary to transport them, and the number 

 of profits added to the original cost. 



Nothing has been found to supjjly the place of these articles, and it is safe to 

 say that nothing will be found as a substitute. We therefore regard the neces- 

 sity for these articles as permanent, and consequently neat cattle must vary as 

 the population varies. Beef, butter, and cheese may be transported, but milk 

 is mainly consumed in the vicinity of its production. This requires that at 

 least one-half the number of cows necessary for a community be kept in its 

 immediate vicinity, as forty-eight per cent, of the entire quantity of milk pro- 

 duced is used at once as an article of food. Working oxen and stock cattle 

 are not so necessarily confined to a people. The character of the soil and the 

 employment of the inhabitants more particularly determine their locality. 



Considered as a whole, without eliminating minor disturbing causes, we find 

 that the production, distribution, and consumption of neat cattle in this country 

 follow certain definite well-marked laws, which must be to the agriculturist of 

 inestimable value. From them we can foresee what, under the ordinary con- 

 dition of things, the future will require, and make provision for its necessities. 

 Before proceeding further with this discussion, it is necessary to introduce 

 the following tabulated statistics computed from data furnished by the Census 

 bureau in the years 1840, 1850, and 1860: 



The total number of neat cattle returned in 1840 was 14, 971, 586 



The total number of neat cattle returned in 1850 was 18, 378, 857 



The total number of neat cattle returned in 1860 was 25, 640, 337 



