Makch 10, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



357 



protein from different sources and of the relation 

 of mineral constituents to efficient nutrition, growth 

 and reproduction. Breeding offers further oppor- 

 tunity for improvement, and science may also 

 help the farmer to meet the changes in the demand 

 of the market, as for example, for bacon and ham 

 hogs in place of those furnishing a larger propor- 

 tion of pork. Already there is a basis for a much 

 better understanding of these matters as a result 

 of recent investigation. Furthermore, a better 

 understanding of factors of growth may assist in 

 cheapening meat production. Investigations upon 

 the stunting effect of delicient food supply has 

 shown the practicability of allowing animals to 

 grow when the farmer has feed for them, and 

 maintaining them on a low basis of nutrition whan 

 feed is scarce. The retardation of growth was 

 not found so serious as was formerly thought. 



President Waters emphasized the fact that meat 

 production must yield a larger net profit than 

 grain and hay farming to induce farmers to fol- 

 low it, since it involves more work, more risk, and 

 keeps farmers employed the year round. Any in- 

 crease in meat production, he prophesized, must 

 come from home production, on the farm mainly 

 and not on the western ranges. 



The latter point was borne out by Professor tl. 

 W. Mumford, of the University of Illinois, who 

 discussed "The Pro Diem of Meat Production on 

 the High-Priced Lands of the Middle West. ' ' He 

 held the corn-surplus states to be the natural cen- 

 ter of beef production in this country, since corn- 

 fed cattle are the distinctive feature of the cattle 

 industry and cattle raising in the corn belt pro- 

 vides a farm market for the crop and conserves the 

 fertility of the soil. As a result of changed con- 

 ditions, however, a large per cent, of the cattle 

 fed in these states are raised in the great breed- 

 ing grounds of the southwest. Consequently, the 

 business of cattle feeding or finishing has gravi- 

 tated into the hands of large feeders who deal in 

 carload lots, the capital, risk and business skill 

 involved and the distance from markets having 

 deterred many farmers from going into this line. 



In order that beef production in the corn belt 

 may take its proper place it was deemed advisable 

 that the business should be distributed more gen- 

 erally among farms of average size, and that an 

 increasing proportion of the cattle fed in the corn 

 belt be reared there. Further development of the 

 industry was said to depend on a remunerative 

 and reasonably stable market, and no prospect was 

 held out of lower prices. It was prophesied that 



any considerable increase in the production of beef 

 cattle in the United States will come from the es- 

 tablishment of small herds on many farms rather 

 than of large herds on extensive areas. 



"The Economic Aspects of Meat Production 

 and Marketing" were treated by Professor L. D. 

 Hall, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The 

 marketing of live stock, particularly of hogs, is 

 coming to be regarded as the limiting factor of 

 their production. The problem of marketing was 

 stated to relate in very large measure to the great 

 central markets, at which more than half of the 

 cattle, two thirds of the swine and approximately 

 four fifths of the sheep of the country are 

 slaughtered. Several conditions and practises 

 which further complicate the problem and favor 

 the buyer were enumerated. 



The speaker explained that "every effort should 

 be exerted to take up the slack in a system that 

 contemplates raising a steer in Texas, grazing him 

 in Montana, fattening him in Iowa, selling him in 

 Chicago, slaughtering him at New York, and send- 

 ing surplus fresh cuts in refrigerator cars as far 

 west as the Missouri River. ' ' One feature of the 

 problem was the supplementing of the large central 

 slaughtering establishments with other facilities 

 tending to make markets more accessible to pro- 

 ducers, and a tendency in that direction was noted. 

 Furthermore, the provision of more complete offi- 

 cial information for growers and feeders as to the 

 supply and distribution of meat animals, both fat 

 stock and feeders, the movement of live stock, 

 quotations at various markets based on standard 

 classes and grades, and the stocks of fresh meat 

 and meat products at principal points, it was main- 

 tained would contribute very materially to the 

 stability of conditions and give the producer a 

 truer understanding of the economics of his busi- 

 ness. 



Dr. A. B. Ward, of the Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry, discussed disease control as a factor in 

 meat production, enforcing his remarks by data 

 drawn from the federal 'inspection of meat and 

 meat animals. He showed the enormity of the 

 direct loss from animal diseases, estimated to 

 amount to approximately $212,000,000 annually, a 

 large proportion of which is from diseases demon- 

 strated to be preventable and controllable. Nearly 

 two per cent, of the animals slaughtered under 

 federal inspection in 1914 were condemned in 

 whole or in part on account of disease. The bur- 

 den which these losses imposes upon the meat-pro- 

 ducing industries of the country was emphasized. 



