Extension of lines of Railway west of the Missouri opened 

 up new fields, and the Government's policy of Free Land opened 

 up new and cheap fields for production. 



The cattle grower of the corn belt soon found he could not 

 compete with the grower of the plains, and became a "feeder." 

 He bought his feeders from the range, turned his pastures into 

 corn fields, picked his corn and fed cattle. This was profitable 

 until all the free land of the west was taken up and he found the 

 prices for feeders growing correspondingly higher. Corn Belt 

 land increased in price by leaps and bounds. Tenant farmers 

 became numerous. These latter did not have sufficient capital 

 to invest in breeding stock. The inevitable happened. The 

 tenant wished cash. Prices for corn were good. Large areas of 

 the Corn Belt became grain growing sections, and in many sec- 

 tions, once populated by good cattle one would have difficulty 

 finding more than enough cattle to supply milk for the family needs. 



In the meantime, other changes were going on. The Corn 

 Belt was rapidly filling with people. Great manufacturing cen- 

 ters sprang up, and the demand for more animal products near 

 these hives of industry became imperative. There was also the 

 call of the soil, demanding nourishment. In all due deference 

 to the great natural fertility of the soil of the section, no coun- 

 try could long survive the deadly system of continuous cropping 

 with no return to the soil. Dairy sections unlike those found in 

 other sections of the world were built up around Chicago and 

 Milwaukee, and in outlying sections of the cropping area there 

 was a demand for cattle. The production of Baby Beef and older 

 beef began to attract attention. Far sighted business men whose 

 livelihood depended upon the fruits of the soil placed calls for 

 cattle. 



Many of the farms were too large, and help too scarce to 

 warrant intensive dairying. A call for the cow that would return 

 profit both at the pail and in the shape of a good marketable 

 steer arose. Where could such a cow be found? It was not so 

 difficult for the farmer of the Corn Belt to find, or at least re- 

 member. Many of the old timers remembered the cows of the 

 days of Illinois and Iowa, brought into those sections from the 



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