1909J Notes on Agriculture Abroad. 767 



labourers." On the contrary, it may be said that the strength and pro- 

 ductive power of German agriculture have been augmented. 



Potash Production in Germany. — The same report refers to the opera- 

 tions of the Potash Syndicate in 1908. The turnover was ^"4,917,000, 

 a larger amount than in any preceding year. The syndicate has been 

 forced to reduce the price of potash salts for 1909 in various countries, 

 but no reduction has been made in the home trade. There is a feeling 

 of uncertainty as to the issue of the negotiations for the renewal of 

 the syndicate agreement which terminates at the end of 1909. 



Agriculture in the United States. — The Report for 1908 on the Chicago 

 Consular District (F. O. Report, Annual Series, No. 4,229) refers to the 

 condition of agriculture in the 11 northern States, which are included 

 in this Consular district. It is mentioned that in the last few years 

 there has been a surprising change in the condition of farmers. Several 

 times in years gone by farmers have been prosperous, and the outlook 

 for men employed in agriculture looked bright, but low prices and bad 

 harvests came, and the farmers had to mortgage and often lose their 

 farms ; but now this seems to be all changed, as, notwithstanding 

 larger crops, the price of everything produced remains high, or goes 

 up, and the farmer is no longer in the unfavourable position that he 

 was. If he has a mortgage now, it is, as a rule, to enable him either 

 to buy more land, to hold on to his crops, or to make improvements 

 in building, draining, or improving stock. 



All through the farming States systematic draining is now seen, and 

 many farmers manure heavily. In cattle raising, the country is in a 

 transition stage, as the time of the open range is passing, and as yet 

 the farming land does not carry the number of cattle that it should. 

 There are several reasons for this, one being the high price obtainable 

 for all grains, making it more profitable to sell than to feed, and 

 another that many of the farmers who have recently taken up land 

 have to get money and cannot keep their cattle and feed them to 

 maturity. It results from this that an undue number of half-fed cattle 

 and young calves come to market. The number of cattle in the country 

 on January 1st — 50,692,000 — was nearly 1,000,000 less than in 1907, but 

 if the slaughter of calves were restricted in some way, the supply of 

 beef would rise from year to year. 



The question of the future supply of cattle is a puzzling and very 

 complicated one, as in the United States the finishing feed consists 

 mainly of maize, the price of which for the past two years has been 

 very high, notwithstanding the large crops, and of which large quan- 

 tities are now used for making glucose and corn products. Many of 

 the cattle ranges are gone, and the rest are going fast, whilst in their 

 place small farms are springing up which will in time produce many 

 more cattle to the acre than the ranges did, but until these new farmers 

 find their feet there is little chance of a marked increase in the supply, 

 while the demand for domestic use is never likely to decrease. 



There are 5,235 creameries, and 3,610 cheese factories in the United 

 States, of which 3,042 and 1,805 respectively are in this Consular district. 

 The centralised dairies are increasing and gradually ousting out those 

 which make butter from whole milk. The manufacture of butter on 

 the farms is decreasing, and more separators are used annually, 



