482 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



LIVE STOCK IN OHIO. 



The county assessors of the State of Ohio 

 have recently published their annual tabular 

 statement, required by law, of the number of 

 horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, and other animals 

 returned for taxation on the first of April. 

 W.e copy from the Cincinnati Gazette the fol- 

 lowing statement of aggregates as compared 

 with those of several previous years. 



Horses. Cattle. Sheep, Hogn. 



l%fA , .631,892 1,435 999 .... 1,616,616 



]S'<5 ..H78 4i6 1,2J4.327 6 3^5,796 1455,(92 



1,-66 ..OSa.Te; 1,268 698 7 C.'« is85 1817,151 



38-}7 . .t91.!-P.l 1426,115 7 555 507 2,)5?,086 



1S68 . .710 375 1.521,266 7,688 845 1,812,512 



1869 . .704,678 2 492,581 6,272 610 1,465 9i3 



18:0 . .7C4.e64 1,521,421 5,052,028 1,720,113 



From this it will be seen that in horses 

 there is no increase of consequence, while 

 beef cattle have increased only 28 840. There 

 has been a slight decrease in mules, and a 

 falling off in sheep of 1.2-20,G12. Hogs in- 

 creased 264,160. 



The Gazette remarks : — 



The consuniption of horses and beef cattle dur- 

 ing the war was very great, and from this, io addi- 

 tiou to supplying the current demand, the State 

 has not yet been able to recover. The annual in- 

 crease sinte 1&65, it is seen, has been very slow ; 

 but it must be borne in mmd, that a large number 

 are shipped out of the State every year. The fig- 

 ures do not give the entire production, but mereFy 

 the number remaining on the 1st of April each 

 year. 



The number of cattle in 1861 was 1,902,772. 

 From that year there was a steady decrease until 

 1865, when 1,244,327 were returned. Since then, 

 wiLh the exctpiion of lS'^i9, there has been a grad- 

 ual increase, but this year the number is 182,659 

 less than it was in 1861. This accounts for the 

 dearness of beef, as compared with ante-war prices, 

 and shows that it will require several years yet to 

 recover fully from the effects of the war. The 

 high prices paid for products, and everything else 

 during tne war, created the impression, that while 

 two mrlHon men were in the held -consuming and 

 destroying, the country was increasing in wealth ; 

 but these statistics we are exhi.bitiug, show that in 

 actual wealth we have fallen beh'md, and that the 

 State of Ohio is not up to the position to-day that 

 it occupied in 1850. 



The most extraordinary decrease is in sheep. 

 The great demand for woolen goods, and the h!gh 

 price cf wool during the war, stimulated the pro- 

 dncc'on of sheep, and in 1868 the maximum was 

 reached, when the stock in Ohio was 7,688,845, 

 against 3,934,763 in 1861. The collapse in the 

 market for woolen goods, caused by the termina- 

 tion of the war, and the fall in p.rices of wool, de- 

 stroyed the prospects of sheep growers. Ohio 

 farmers have been disposing of their sheep, which 

 have decreased over 1,600,000 in two years, with a 

 continued downward tendency. 



In 1861, theiw were in the State, over six mouths 

 old, on the 1st of April, 2,242,814 hogs. High 

 prices, consequent upi.n the war, and good com 

 crops, stimulated the production, and in 1863 the 

 number increased to 2 765 9U0. Tliis was the max- 

 imum, and since that tunc there has been an aver- 

 age decrease until 1866, when the minimum was 

 reached, the number being 1,455,943. This year, 

 however, shows an increase of near 300,000 head. 



The causes which reduced the supply of hogs dif- 

 fer from those that affected cattle. The supply of 

 hogs varies rapidly, because the number may be 

 so readily diminished or largely increased. Give 

 farmers one or two years' notice, and offer suffi- 

 cient inducements, and the supply will be equal 

 to any probable demand. This iinder ordinary 

 circumstances. But for several years the cholera 

 made havoc among the hogs, and so discouraging 

 were the circumstances that farmers largely aban- 

 doned the business. This accounts for the rapid 

 decline from 1863. To a great extent, however, 

 the cholera has ceased, and hogs having for two 

 years commanded very high prices, farmers are 

 again giving their attention to the business, and 

 Ohio is now in a condition, if the corn crop turns 

 out as well as it promises, to furnish a large crop 

 of hogs for next winter's maiket. The returns to 

 the Auditor include, only those over six months 

 old on the 1st of April. Large numbers, therefore, 

 not included in our figures, may be made ready 

 for market by January next. 



BRANCH CHBS8E FACTOKIEB. 

 In the article on Cheese Factories, by Mr. 

 Bliss, as well as in that by Mr. Brown, of 

 New York, recently published in the Farmer, 

 it is remarked that the tendency has been of 

 late to small establishments for manufacturing 

 cheese, and that some of the larger factories, 

 which originally took milk from farmers scat- 

 tered over a large territory, bad already es- 

 tablished branch factoi'ies to avoid the incon- 

 venience and expense of transporting milk too 

 far. During a recent excursion among the 

 cheese daries of Herkimer County, the editor 

 of the Utica Herald visited a factory which 

 was built by our correspondent, L. N. Brown, 

 Ek}., and which has three branches now in 

 successful operation. The Herald says : — 



The Eagle Cheese Factory is situated on the 

 easterly skirt of the village of West Edmeston, 

 and is one of the best appomtediand best managed 

 factories in the State. We believe it is the only 

 factory which has successfully carried out the 

 branch system, which originated with the builder 

 of this factory, L. N. Brown, Esq., who was the 

 pioneer of cheese factories in this portion of the 

 State, and is a man of extensive and varied expe- 

 rience in all departments of the cheese-making 

 business. 



The Eagle has three branches, all within easy 

 drive of the main factory. At each of these 

 branches is run one of Ralph's large, self-heating 

 vats, which are admirably adapted to this purpose. 

 The cheese is made under the supervision of the 

 manager, who has his headquarters at the factory. 

 The rennet, coloring and bandages are prepared at 

 the factory, and delivered onceor twice a week at 

 the branches, when the cheese is taken from them 

 and drawn to the large cuiing room. In this way 

 the cheese made at four diffei'ent places and drawn 

 together and cured in one building are remarkably 

 uniform in size and quality. Without knowing 

 the fact, or looking at the brand, no one would 

 have suspected the cheese which we saw on the 

 ranges of being made at four different places by 

 four dilferent operators. They were firm, meaty 

 and buttery, and contained on their clean faces an 

 assurance of the truthfulness of the assertion of 



