48 PRODUCTION 



slowly, owing partly to the slipshod methods bred during the earlier 

 period of abundant land ; and this factor may effectively hinder 

 the progress of animal industries in the United States for some 

 time to come. 1 



Thirdly, the area of farm land devoted to the production of 

 wheat is not only very large, but has been increasing at a rapid 

 rate. In the period 1889 to 1909 this increase was at the rate of 

 over half a million acres per annum. Although this rate is not 

 likely to be maintained in the future, the fact above noted 

 is sufficient indication of the demands made upon American farm 

 lands for the production of food, as distinct from fodder crops. 

 Except for milling offals and straw the land taken for wheat crops 

 in any given cereal year, is, of course, withdrawn from any purpose 

 that might lead to the production of animal foodstuffs, and receives 

 no return in the form of fertilising materials, which it has lost to 

 the crop. 



Fourthly, the acreage under cotton in the United States has 

 increased at the rate of nearly f million acres per annum since 

 1879. 1 Cotton requires fertile land, and even though upwards of 

 one third of the seed is returned as manure in America, is an 

 exhausting crop. 



The product returned in the form of oil-cake to American farmers 

 is small in proportion to the area of land used. Stock-rearing has 

 hitherto been somewhat neglected as a subsidiary industry in the 

 cotton-growing states, but it may be established more widely in 

 them in the future as a means of keeping the balance against the 

 exhaustive one-crop system. 



To sum up the situation with reference to animal foodstuffs in 

 the United States, there is at present a notable surplus for export 

 only in pig-meat and animal fats, and the extent of this surplus 

 fluctuates with the crop yields, notably that of maize ; for the near 

 future, while it is possible that stock-rearing may expand as fast, 

 or even faster, than the requirements of the population in animal 

 foodstuffs, there is a distinct likelihood of a further decline in the 

 surplus. Considerable imports have already been made in certain 

 recent years of such articles as live cattle, frozen and chilled meat, 

 cheese, and butter, and the imports of some of these may be resumed 



1 It is fair to add that the high prices obtained during the war for agri- 

 cultural produce have provided a stimulus to increased production. Since 

 1914 the numbers of both cattle and pigs in the United States have increased 

 considerably, but see p. 43, Note 2. 



2 The acreage under cotton in the United States has been as follows : 



(!N MILLIONS OF ACRES.) 



1879 1889 1899 1909 



14-48 20-175 24-275 32-043 



It will be seen that the increase was most rapid in the latest decade. The 

 magnitude of the American cotton crop is indicated by the fact that for the 

 season 1911-12 the production of cotton seed amounted to 6-36 million tons, 

 of which, however, only 4-74 million tons were crushed, the rest being used 

 presumably as fertiliser. 



