Cattle Industry of United States. 



345' 



in the general conditions of business there has naturally 

 been a recovery in the country's powers of consumptiono 

 This improvement in the demand accounts to a great extent 

 for the rise in the American price of fed cattle. But it must 

 also be noticed that the decreasing volume of the herd has 

 been attended, during the two years under review, by a 

 marked scarcity of young stock cattle which, though not sa 

 considerable as to curtail the receipts of fed steers at the 

 markets, caused a strong advance in values of feeding 

 stock, and thus contributed to raise prices of all other 

 classes. 



Considerable light was thrown on this subject by am 

 inquiry instituted last summer by the " Live Stock Report," of 

 Chicago, into the numbers of cattle then on feed in the mid- 

 western States compared with the numbers of the previous 

 year. This inquiry showed that in most of these States feeding 

 stocks were scarce and high, large tracts of land being 

 reported to be wholly denuded of stock ; and that where the- 

 young cattle were not scarce, it was only because the stock 

 had been fully renewed by importation from the south, 

 and west. All these States had drawn largely for their 

 supply on the south-western region (Texas, etc.) and the 

 north-western range States, while some of them had imported 

 stock from Canada and Mexico. The scarcity of young stock 

 had thus led to two noticeable results : it stimulated the 

 importation of foreign cattle, and produced a greatly 

 increased movement of young cattle to the middle-west from;, 

 other portions of the United States. 



The imports of cattle have grown as the numbers in the^ 

 country have diminished ; and it is interesting to note that 

 they now represent some three-fourths of the total number of 

 live cattle exported. 



Total Imports of Cattle mto the United States . 



Year ending June 30 — . Number. 

 1892 2,168 



1893 - - - - - - 3,293 



1894 1,592 



1895 - , - - - - - 149,781 



1896 217,826 



1897 - - - - - 328,977 



1898 . . - . . . 291,555 



The imports are practically wholly from Mexico and 



