As an infinitely worse condition prevails in the other cattle-producing countries of the world, it is obvious that we cannot look to any outside source of supply, either to replenish our herds, or to provide our meat food requirements.
The increased cost of production in the North has resulted in the great advancement of the dairying industry, to meet the American food requirements.
In 1850 the milch cows on American farms numbered about 6,000,000. This number was increased to 8,500,000 in 1860, and to about 13,000,000 in 1880; and the census of 1900 showed 17,100,000. In 1907, they numbered 20,625,000, and January 1, 1917, 22,768,000, or more than one-third of our entire cattle herds.
The change from beef-cattle raising to dairying is most noticeable in the Eastern and the North Central States, where the lack of pasturage and the increased cost of forage make the production of beef less profitable than formerly, while the proximity to large centers of population and great cities has greatly stimulated the demand for dairy products.
In some sections of the country dairying has encroached to such an extent on the beef cattle industry that the latter has ceased to be a factor of importance in those localities.
The beef cattle industry of the North is divided into two departments: first, producing in the Far West; second, preparing for market in the Middle West.
The Western producer can only provide grazing, and must then ship to the Middle West feeder, who raises the corn with which he prepares the cattle for market.
The shortness of the grazing season makes it impossible to put a thousand-pound beef on the market in a year; consequently the stock must be shipped to the Middle West in September, October or November, to be fattened and prepared for the market.
The breeding herds and the stock not ready for shipment to the feeders of the Middle West exist on the thin grasses, through eight months—from September to June.
These sections of arid soil and thin vegetation are further handicapped by the winters of intense cold, and of enforced housing and feeding; for, during six or seven months, and even eight months, of each year, there is scant vegetation to support animal life, and the struggle is a severe one to sustain life itself against the encroachments of the bitter temperature which so long prevails.