SUMMARY 309 



among these hogs has scared many feeders out of the hog-producing 

 business, and these same men, when deprived of the hogs, do not 

 find the cattle industry profitable enough to repay them for the 

 extra labor involved in handling them, and, as a result, the feed lots 

 have been entirely abandoned in many instances and the ground 

 given over to grain production. 



As a result of these conditions we find that the United States 

 is rapidly coming face to face with a serious situation in regard to 

 meat supply. This fact is already being recognized by the large 

 firms engaged in the meat business, and is the subject of much seri- 

 ous consideration on the part of the large packers. If present con- 

 ditions are not changed within the next ten years we will be, indeed, 

 face to face with a severe meat shortage. It is a problem that is of 

 vital importance not only to the farmer and stockman, but also to 

 the city dweller as well. In point of actual fact the question is 

 a much more anxious one from the standpoint of the residents of 

 our cities than it is for the farmer and stockman. The farmer can 

 very easily get along without engaging in the raising of five stock to 

 any very large extent. Grazing lands can be very profitably used 

 for production of the various forms of grain, and the profit is 

 practically as large and much more certain than that to be 

 reaUzed by turning of these same lands into feed lots for cattle 

 and hogs. 



From the standpoint of the city man the question has an entirely 

 different meaning. The modern American laboring man is a heavy 

 meat eater, and without meat he feels unable to perform his usual 

 work. We consume more meat per capita in the United States 

 than in any other of the modern civilized nations. This habit of 

 enormous meat consumption is quite firmly fixed with the majority 

 of us, and very few, indeed, would care to become vegetarians. 

 Yet this important article of diet is threatening to become such 

 an expensive luxury that the average laborer will be unable to 

 afford it, if, indeed, such is not already the case. 



Even within the past ten years the prices of meat have advanced 

 in many cases over 100 per cent. In the case of pork products 

 this is especially true. Pork chops, which ten years ago could 

 be bought 3 pounds for 25 cents, now sell for 22 to 25 cents 

 for a single pound. Other meats have advanced accordingly. 



