266 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



there, and millions of acres have been sold to set- 

 tlers and devoted to crop production. 



These are the influences which have so seriously 

 reduced the cattle supply, and which will undoubt- 

 edly further reduce it rather than bring about any 

 immediate increase. Eventually, the dry-farming 

 regions will raise more cattle than were ever pro- 

 duced under the old range conditions, but this will 

 not be in the immediate future. It is entirely likely 

 that several years hence the total number of cattle 

 in the country will be greater than at any previous 

 period. By this time, however, the population of 

 the country and the corresponding demand for beef 

 will have increased to such an extent that the beef 

 production per capita will never be able to catch up. 



CHEAP BEEF FOREVER GONE 



In view of these conditions, it is hard to con- 

 ceive just how or why we should ever have cheap 

 beef again. The number of animals kept on the 

 middle West farms is continuing to increase, but 

 this increase is gradual, and by no means equal to 

 the rate of increase in population. Cattle growing, 

 even on high-priced land,- will probably continue 

 to be exceedingly profitable. The ranchmen who 

 have been able to stay in the business in the West 

 will also realize good profits from their stock. 



It is likely that the thousands of range cattle 

 which will always be produced in certain parts of 

 the range country, will, in time, be fed and fitted 

 for the market in the western states, instead of 

 being sent to the feed yards of the middle West. 

 The growing of barley, field peas, alfalfa and sim- 

 ilar crops, both upon irrigated and dry farms, is 

 leading cattlemen to realize what the possibilities 



