226 



Live Stock in Denmark. 



recent years exceeded 400,000 head, they have been, on the 

 whole, more than balanced by the imports of fat sheep, mainly 

 from Canada. Still, the low prices which have prevailed for 

 maize in the past few years have induced American farmers 

 to turn their attention more and more to the conversion of 

 this grain into mutton, and the authorities of many of the 

 State experiment stations have encouraged this movement by 

 demonstrating experimentally that profitable returns can be 

 secured by the utilisation of maize and other surplus grains 

 in the raising of sheep. 



The great breeding ground for sheep in the United States is 

 the territory west of the one hundredth meridian known as 

 the Range, and already this region is producing about one-halt 

 of the total number of sheep.* It appears that for the past 

 few years sheep have been rapidly crowding the cattle off 

 the northern portion of this territory, but although the actual 

 conditions are there favourable to the grazing of stock in 

 large numbers they do not permit of the production of suffi- 

 cient feed to properly fatten and finish the animals. The 

 finishing can only be done by drawing on the surplus crops 

 of the States of the upper Mississippi valley, and this is now 

 largely the practice. It was formerly thought that sheep were 

 only suited to the inferior lands, but during the past few years 

 large flocks have been fattened annually in the grain pro- 

 ducing States and practical feeders and farmers in the maize- 

 belt area are said to have discovered that there is no more 

 profitable outlet for their surplus grain products than in 

 mutton production. 



Live Stock Census in Denmark, 

 The preliminary returns of the census of live stock taken 

 in Denmark during the past year furnish the following com- 

 parative statement of the number of animals in the country 

 in 1893 and 1898 respectively. 



1S93 1898 



No. No. 



Horses 410,639 449,264 



Cattle 1,696,190 1,743,440 



Sheep 1,246,552 1,074413 



Swine 829,131 1,178,514 



Goats 25,266 31*803 



" :t In the eleven States west of the ioo 3 meridian there were estimated to be 

 on January 1 1899, 22,020,762 sheep and lambs out of a total for the entire country of 

 39,114,453. 



