9 



cattle and feeding them out." About one-half of the total number 

 raised a part of their feeding cattle, and 42 percent made a prac- 

 tice of purchasing all their feeders. x 



It is significant that a considerably smaller proportion of 

 breeders was found in Indiana than in Illinois. Altho the data 

 are not strictly comparable, owing to possible differences in the 

 class of cattle feeders represented and an interval of four years 

 between the two investigations, it is undoubtedly true that the 

 decrease in the proportion of breeders to feeders of beef cattle 

 has moved gradually from the eastern to the western border of 

 the corn belt. 



Notwithstanding the abandonment of cattle breeding by a 

 majority of the more extensive beef .producers, the aggregate 

 number of cattle in the region under consideration shows an 

 increase from 1870 to 1910, altho in but few instances did it keep 

 pace with the population. This is due mainly to the large num- 

 ber of farmers who keep only a few cattle to furnish the family 

 supply of milk and beef and to consume the waste roughage and 

 forage of the farm. The statistics for the years 1911, 1912, and 

 1913 show an actual decrease in the number of cattle in the corn 

 belt. In order to illustrate this point more fully, Table 1 is pre- 

 sented. 



TABLE 1. NUMBER OF CATTLE OTHER THAN MILCH Cows IN THE 

 CORN -BELT STATES 



1 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Bur. An. Indus., Ann. Rept. 1897, pp. 267-289. 



2 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Yearbook 1909, p. 572. 



3 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Yearbook 1911, p. 630. 



4 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Yearbook 1912, p. 682. 



i Ind. Agr. Exp. Sta., Circ. No. 12, p. 11. 



