Farm Animals in the United States. 



35 



value of such cattle rose from £3 7s. per head in 1880 to 

 £4 1 8s. in 1884; fell steadily to £2 igs. in 1895, an( ^ then rose 

 again so fast (particularly in the last two years) that it 

 stood at £4 15s. at the commencement of the present year. 

 This great increase in price brings the total estimated value 

 of all cattle, other than milch cows, in the United States to 

 ;£ 1 32,902,000, a value which had not been reached since 1887. 



The number of milch cows has followed a different 

 course. From 12,027,000 in 1880 it rose uninterruptedly 

 to a maximum of 16,505,000 in 1895. There has since been 

 a decline, but it has been very gradual ; indeed, the total in 

 1 899, which was slightly better than in 1 898, w T as as much as 

 15,990,000 — i.e., only 515,000, or 3 per cent., below the 

 maximum. The average value of the milch cows, which has 

 throughout the period been something like 30s. per head 

 more than that of " all other cattle," has varied in a very 

 similar manner, having reached a maximum of £6 us. in 

 1884, and a minimum of £4 gs. in 1892. The value of both 

 milch cows and oxen, etc., was nearly stationary at a low 

 level from 1890 to 1895. The recovery in the value of milch 

 cows has also been very decided in the last two years, rising 

 by 27s. during the twenty-four months, and the £6 4s. 

 recorded in 1899 is but little below the maximum of the 

 twenty years ; in fact, only in the three years 1883-5 has this 

 average value been exceeded. Owing to the much more 

 gradual decline in the numbers, the total value of all 

 the milch cows in the United States on January 1st last 

 amounted to ,£98,800,000, a total which had never before 

 been approached, the previous highest having been 

 ^"90,586,000 in 1898, and ,£88,226,000 in 1884. 



In the case of sheep the variations have not been quite so 

 regular. A maximum of 50,627,000 was reached in 1884 ; 

 after which date there was a decline to 42,599,000 in 1889, 

 followed by a rise to 47,274,000 in 1893, and a further fall to 

 a minimum of 36,819,000 in 1897, — a loss of four million 

 head being recorded between 1895 and 1896. In 1899 the 

 number had risen again to 39,114,000. The average value 

 also shows marked fluctuations. It was given as 9s. 2|d. per 

 head in 1880, and rose to 10s. 6|d. in 1883, it then fell to 



