EEPORT OF THE .BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



This table shows some interesting facts. At the first approximately 

 accurate census of cattle in 1850 there were 767 cattle to 1,000 of 

 population. This number increased in 1860 to 815, showing a large 

 stock of cattle on hand at that time. In 1870, partly from the ef- 

 fects of the war, and partly from an underestimate of the number of 

 cattle in the country, we find the number of cattle reduced to 618 

 per 1,000 of population. In 1880 the number per 1,000 increases to 

 the extent of 120 and reaches 738. In 1881 there is an increase of 6 

 per 1,000; from 1881 to 1882 the increase is 14 per 1,000; from 1882 

 to 1883 it is 15 per 1,000, being the largest apparent increase in any 

 one year; from 1883 to 1884 the increase is 14 per 1,000; and from 

 1884 to 1885 it is 13 per 1,000, reaching the highest point since 1860, 

 or 800 cattle per 1,000 population. 



Since 1885 there has been a steady decrease in the relative number 

 of cattle. From 1885 to 1886 this was 6 per 1,000; from 1886 to 1887 

 it was 11 per 1,000, and from 1887 to 1888 it was 12 per 1,000. The 

 total decrease in cattle per 1,000 population from 1885 to 1888 amounted 

 to 29, and the proportion was then as 771 to 1,000. 



A somewhat clearer presentation of the beef supply is obtained by 

 separating the milch cows from the other cattle and considering the 

 latter alone. These figures will be found in the table which is given 

 below : 



Table showing the total number of milch cows and of other cattle, and the number 

 of each per 1,000 of population. 



One of the remarkable facts brought out by this table is that 

 since 1870 the proportion of milch cows to population has been prac- 

 tically constant. In 1850 there were 275 per 1,000, and in 1860 273 

 per 1,000. In 1870 this number decreases to 232, or about 15 per 

 cent., and increases in the ten years from 1870 to 1880 to 248, being 

 at the rate of 1. 6 per annum. In the six years from 1882 to 1888 there 

 has only been a variation of 2 per 1,000. The reduction from 275 per 

 1,000 in 1850 to 234 per 1,000 in 1888 ? or about 15 per cent., has un- 

 doubtedly been more than counterbalanced by improvements in the 

 quality of the stock, so that the quantity of dairy products yielded 

 in proportion to the population is greater instead of being less than 

 in 1850. 



Turning our attention now to the "other cattle," from which our 

 beef supply is mostly obtained, we find, in 1850, 491 per 1,000 of 

 population. In 1860 this number increased to 542 per 1,000, or over 

 10 per cent., and in consequence of the war had dropped by 1870 to 

 386, a decrease in ten years of 28.7 per cent. In 1880 the number of 

 this class of cattle per 1,000 of population had increased to 490, the 



