Mulhall Enterprise (Mulhall, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 30, Ed. 1 Friday, July 29, 1910 Page: 3 of 8
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Cattle Raising in the Americas
It is only surprising
A
HEN the United States ceases to bo ail exporter of beef
and pork from whence will Europe get its meat?
Will the United States, with its large ratio of in-
crease in population, with which the meat produuetion
by no means keeps pace, be able in the future to feed
itself?
Must Europe and the United States curtail their meat
consumption?
There is no need to take a pessimist's view in an-
swering any of these questions. The meat proposition
Is already serious, it is true; but this is because we are at the turning
of the ways and not because the immediate future, or even the future
for some hundreds of years at least, presents any real difficulty to the
solution of this proposition.
Leaving out of consideration all questions involving the so-called
meat trust, the# tariff, etc., and looking at the matter simply as a
question of economy in meat production, there is no need to fear a
famine, nor ought there to be any fear of high prices to limit the con-
Bumption.
t A number of factors enter into the world's present meat problem,
one of the most important of which is the change in conditions under
which meat, has been produced in the United States. The change from
range to farm production of beef cattle and the improved shipping fa-
cilities for corn, which latter has revolutionized the hog industry, have
together upset the balance in the meat market. Unlimited free range
on government lands made cheap meat, but the taking up of these
lands by settlers, and particularly the taking up of land around water
sites has changed the whole situation. The exten
eion of railways and an Improved service has given
the western farmer a choice, either to sell his corn or
to feed for meat, where formerly he had 110 choice; it
was either hogs or cease raising corn. Hp raised hogs
because he was forced to it, and he bought range beef
cattle to put them in condition for the market by feed-
ing for a few months with a part of his surplus grain.
The raising of cattle on the free ranges of the west
was the cheapest method of meat production at the
time practised in the United States, but it is a question
whether beef may not now be produced, and is not now-
produced by a few farmers, even cheaper than on the
western ranges in the past.
' The poor quality of range meat, which necessitated
ieveral months of farm feeding and care in order to
be gotten in condition for the market, the great losses
in the herds due to insufficient food and water, and
the lack of winter shelter made the business of cattle
raising on the western plains a more or less uncertain
and precarious industry. It was an exotic, and as such
kt will die with changing conditions.
The future of meat production in the United
States is a farming proposition, and like all other
questions connected with the national agriculture de-
pends for its satisfactory solution upon the Improvement of farm meth-
ods. To remain a meat-exporting country, lands must be brought up
to the European standard of production. At that standard, or even
considerably below, farming In the United States pays, and pays well,
and In no way better than by turning grass and grain into meat. But
«ntil the United States adjusts itself to the changed conditions and can
•.gain enter the European market as a competitor with Argentina, Uru-
guay and Australia for the meat trade, where will Europe, and even
the United States, should it have a temporary need for meat, secure
their supplies?
The answer to this question is not difficult.
that it has not been more fully recognized.
The broad plains of Mexico and Central
America, of Venezuela and Colombia, the Ama-
zon region of Brazil, Bolivia. Peru and Ecua-
dor rival, If they do not excel the famed pam-
pas of Argentine and Uruguay as cheap meat-
producing districts.
In the country of the Oronoco alone, Vene-
tuela and eastern Colombia, there is an area
of territory more than equal to France, C.cr-
many, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark,
or ten times the size of the state of New York,
which has its superior as a cattle country in
no part of the world, if indeed it has anywhere
Its equal.
Mexico offers many advantages to the stock
raiser. The conditions there are those with
which stockmen from the United States are
more or less familiar, which last fact. In part,
accounts for the large Investments of Ameri-
can capital made in this industry within the
last few years in Mexico. Cattlemen own the
land in large tracts of from 100,000 to 1,000,000
acres, acquired from the government by grant
and at a very low figure. This prevents the
shutting oft from water, which has done srt
much to destroy the range Industry In the
United States. The winters are mild and there
la no danger of los3 from blizzards—in fact,
the grazing is good all the year round.
The character of the ranges on the Pacific
eoaat side In Jalisco, Michoacan, Guerrero,
southern Oaxaca and Teplc are similar in
character to the northern ranges but not so
well watered, and the grass Is scantier.
. On the gulf side there nro entirely differ-
ent conditions. On the slope of the eastern
Cordilleras In the slates of San I.nls l'otosi,
Tamaulipas and northern Vera Cruz is Ihe re-
gion known ts tho Huasteca Potoslna, the
eountry of the Tamesl, Panuco, Temporal and
Tamasunchale rivers. This Is an almost ideal
r grass country. It is a succession of valleys
separated by grass-covered terraces or hills
Increasing In height from the low plains near
the coast to the borders of the central plateau
8,000 feet. This slope receives the moist
breezes from the Gulf of Mexico In the form
of rain during tho summer months and dew
In winter, and is always freo from frost,
drought and excessive heat. The natural pas
turage of this country Is as fine as any in the
world, except on the Oronoco and In the up-
per Amazon country. Cattle In good condition
can be sent to market at a cost of less than
$10 gold a head. On the northern and west-
ern ranges lenn cattle cost to produce from
$2 to $!> a head ami enn be fattened for mar-
ket to cost In all about $10 u head.
The latest Mexican statistics show about
8,250,000 beef cattle in ihe whole country, of
a<> estimated valuo of about gold per head.
Chihuahua and Vera Cruz lead with about
400,000 head for each state. As compared
with Argentina with its 30,000,000 beef cattle
It can be seen that Mexico Is but at tho begin-
ning of tho Industry; In fact, as present tho
country produces but little meat above Its own
needs, yet It could, on natural pasturo alone,
carry twice the number of cattle now grazing
In Argentina, and could easily supply to the
European markets from Its surplus an amount
of meat twice what the United States has
sven been tible to supply from its surplus.
South of Mexico In Central America and
In parts of Mexico not above mentioned there
Is yet another cattle country, where Ihe cli-
mate Is more tropical. On the Pacific side the
> * area suitable for cattle Is limited. It is simi-
lar to the Pacific slope of Mexico, but the
oountrj is more thickly settled, a larger pro-
OortlCD of the laud Is devoted to agriculture,
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(OMBOY
X HI BIT! ON
■p/ujim
COMAU3
in
a#06UflY
Oklahoma Directory
^DEEREIMPLEMENTS
and VELIE VEHICLES
Ask your dealer, or
JOHN DEERE PLOW CO., OklahomaCit)
MACHINERY
OF ALL KINDS FOR SALE
Repair work carefully and
promptly done. Write, call or phone.
Southwestern Manufacturing Co. 0klc!t;m*
Opportunity
now knocking. All who seek a professional
life work should investigate the science of
Chiropractic.
CARVER CHIROPRACTIC COLLEGE
Third and Broadway 0KLAU0MA CITY. 0KLA.
rn .'fin you *«'ll lotslna county soar ana romuinr-
dul t-.ntorof llloU ramie Valley. Splendid contract
\VrtN» tor booklet I. CkayUToiraalMC*., lha|>in, Tea.
LEADING MISTAKES
LIFE
Af/£>£^i /7V AA-GjTNT/nAt
and consequently there is less room for beef
cattle. The country offers fine opportunities
for dairy stock and will undoubtedly develop
along this line. In the uplands and 011 the
Atlantic slope there nre large areas of fine
open country in Guatemala, Honduras. Nica-
ragua and Costa Hica, where cattle can be
produced as cheaply as anywhere in the
world. It is a known fact that in Guatemala
and Honduras four-year-old stock can be pro-
duced 011 the ranges to cost less than $2 a
head. The native stock needs improving. It
is the same which was formerly known In the
United States as the Texas long horn. When
crossed by Shorthorn bulls the resulting prog-
eny is a first-class beef animal. Hereford.
Galloway and Aberdeen-Angus crosses also
produce good results.
At present the industry is almost entirely
local. Millions of acres of the finest pas-
turage In the world, where the native grasses
stand from knee to shoulder high, are unuti-
lized. A tithe of the capital and enterprise
which have produced such large results in
Argentina and Uruguay would make Central
America, although limited in area, an impor-
tant factor in the world's meat market and
would pay to the investors a handsome return
on their investment.
In South America there are three great
natural cattle regions which in area and
adaptability for cattle production are une-
qualed in any other part of the world.. The
plains of the Oronoco, of the Amazon and of
the Plata rivers are without doubt the best
adapted for producing beef cattle cheaply and
on a large scale of any other sections of either
the old or the new world.
Behind the Venezuelan coast range of
mountains lies the basin of the Oronoco. This
river has nearly 500 tributaries and at its
greatest length is 1,500 miles long and is navi-
gable from the ocean for about 1,200 miles.
For about half Its length it flows north and
then turns almost directly east and continues
in this line to the Atlantic. Near the bend
of tho Oronoco it is joined by the Apure, one
of its chief tributaries, which has come down
from the eastern Cordilleras of Colombia
through tho heart of the region of the llanos
or prairie lands. These lands continue on to
the east to the vertex of the delta of the Oro
noca. They comprise about 150,000 square
miles in Venezuela and about 120.000 square
miles in Colonibiu. It Is the largest single
compact area of high-class natural pasture in
tho world. In the luxuriance of Its grasses it
is as far ahead of the pampas lands of Argen-
tina as are these alxmd of the short-grass
lands of Kansas or Nebraska. It is one im-
mense level prairie, thickly carpeted with
para and guineo grass, growing twice as high
as broom sedge on a neglected Virginia farm.
It Is crossed and Interlaced by hundreds of
rivers flowing Into the Oronoco or into its
larger tributaries, the Apure, the Arauca, tho
Meta, the Vlchada and the Ouaviare. From
these rivers spread out smaller rivers, creeks
and guts-Joining one river to another so that
the whole is one great water mesh. In some
places for a hundred miles one must cross
water every half mile or less. The creeks and
guts, when wide enough are navigable for
launches and flatboats and offer the best and
cheapest possible system of highways leading
directly down to the Oronoco and the sea.
From the earliest days of the Spanish con-
quest this country has been famed as a cattle
land. At the time of the war of lndepoudoneo,
In 1812, it was estimated that there were
o,000,000 head of cattle in the country. Tho
Industry has never since been so flourishing.
These natural cattle lands comprise about
170,000,000 acres and could easily carry 180,-
000,000 beef cattle and not be overstocked.
In the past the industry has been much
hampered in both Columbia and Venezuela by
government restrictions, monopolies and taxa-
tion. and the estimates as to the cost of cattle
production in consequence vary much. Under
the same favorable conditions as exist in Mex-
ico, Argentina and Uruguay the llanos of
Colombia 'and Venezuela can produce cattle
ready for slaughter at a cost which ought not
to exceed $2 gold per head.
In the valley of the Amazon there are no
such great prairie lands as exist on the Oro-
noco, yet on the whole there is as much or
even more first-class cattle country, a consid-
erable part of which Is in easy deep-water
connection with the world's markets.
The Amazon basin comprises one-eighth of
the habitable earth and one-half of the most
fertile portion thereof. In a territory so large
as this it would be unreasonable not to expect
to find many varieties of soil and soli cover, and
such is the fact. Between the rivers tributary to
the great river and back from the bottoms are
here and there large tracts of open land simi-
lar to that found on the Gulf coast of Mexico,
in the prairie lands of Louisiana and in Hon-
duras and in Guatemala. This is all fine cattle
country; there could be no better.
Near the headwaters of the great rivers
that flow down to make the mighty Amazon,
on the eastern slope of the Andes, are mil-
lions of acres of fine grass lands in Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, as well as In Bra-
zil. that are more immediately available for
cattle raising than are the lands farther east
in the great basin.
Tho third great rivef basin of South
America is that of the Plate river, with which
must be included the southern half of Argen-
tina. whose rivers drain directly into the At-
lantic. Any account of the cattle industry
of Argentina must of necessity bo less a story
of what can le done than of what has been
done. Included in the Plate basin in addition
to Argentina are Uurguay, Paraguay and
southern Brazil. The cattle conditions are
similar over all this area.
Argentina tanks third in the world as a
cattle-producing country. Russia and the Uni-
ted States alone lead it; but Argentina has
only about 0,000,000 inhabitants to feed, which
accounts for the fact that it is the leading
country In beef exports. Russia and the Uni-
ted States must consume most of what they
raise; Argentina ships the greater proportion
of what It raises, not only beef cattle, but
horses, sheep, wool, corn, wheat and flaxseed
At tho last census, taken about two years
ago, there were 29,116,620 cattle hi Argentina
and about 6,000,000 in Uruguay. Ilils is nearly
all grade stock of the best Knglish blood-
Shorthorn, Hereford nnd Aberdeen Angus. Ar-
gentina and Uruguay cattle are reared under
conditions somewhat peculiar to the locality.
They are not range cattle nor yet exactly farm
cattle, and but little or 110 grain is fed, yet
the export steers of Buenos Aires or Monte-
video are fully equal In size and will cut as
much prime beef nnd as little wnsto as tho
best steers of Kansas, Pennsylvania or south-
west Virginia.
In the central provinces of Buenos Aires,
Cordoba, Santa Fe, Kntro Rlos nnd Corrlentes
the native grasses are better and more alfalfa
U grown. These Qvu are tho principal cattle-
producing provinces, as they are also the prin-
cipal grain producers. Next to these eomo
La Pampa, Santiago and Sulta, each of which
provipces carries from about 700,000 to 1,000,-
000 cattle. Then come San Luis, Mendoza, La
Rloja and Catamarca, averaging about half
of these numbers. In the north, Misiones,
Formosa and 121 Chaco, and in the south Rio
Negro and Chubut are rapidly becoming im-
portant cattle districts. Even San Juan and
Neuquen. 011 the Andean slope, and Santa
Cruz and Tlerra del Fuego, in the extreme
south, are finding that cattle as well as sheep
can l»e raised with profit. In fact, there is
but little territory in the Argentine Republic
which is not suitable for either cattle or sheep.
Beef is exported from the La Plata region
on the hoof, as salted or as meat extracts, and
frozen in quarters.
England is the principal market for South
American beef. The frozen-meat industry in
the Argentine Republic has grown up since
the closing of the English market to live
cattle.
In the year 1008 the Argentine Republic ex-
ported 00,910 head of live beef cattle, three-
fourths of which went to Chile. It exported
2,295,784 quarters (573,946 whole beeves) of
frozen beef, and from the salting works 155,-
400 beeves as salt beef, meat extract or jerked
beef.
In this latter industry Uruguay in addition
exported 754,300 and southern Brazil 425,000
head, respectively.
As a field for investment in the cattle in-
dustry the La Plata region offers the very
best of chances. In fact, it Is without a rival,
and will remain such until a like enterprise
and capital which has there produced such
marvelous results shall seek a new opportu-
nity on the Oronoco and In the upper Amazon
country.
The field for cattle growing Is large; there
need be no scarcity though the United States
should cease to export and become an Im-
porter of meat.
Writer Has Recorded Ten, of Which
Most of U9 Assuredly Have
Our Share.
Some of us may be glad to be told
that there are only ten life mistakes,
for there seem to be so many more,
but a recent writer has catalogued
them. Perhaps these are only the ten
leading ones from which the smaller
errors arise. Let's look over tho list
and see how many of them are ours:
First, to set up our own standard of
right and wrong and judge people ac-
cordingly; second, to measure tho en-
; joyment of others by our own; third,
to expect uniformity of opinion in this
world; fourth, to look for judgment
and experience in youth; fifth, to en-
deavor to mold all dispositions alike;
sixth, to look for perfection in our
own actions; seventh, 4o worry our-
selves and others with what cannot
be remedied; eighth, to refuse to yield
in immaterial matters; ninth, to re-
fuse to alleviate, so far as it lies in
our power, all which needs allevia-
tion; tenth, to refuse to make allow-
ance for the infirmities of others.
Tit for Tat.
Being of a literary turn and having
plenty of leisure, both Mr. and Mrs.
Glupplns contributed special articles
occasionally to two different newspa-
pers in the town where they resided.
One day Mr. Glupplns picked up a
manuscript his wife had just finished,
and proceeded to look It over.
"That's very good. Bertha," he said,
•ifter completing his inspection, "but
I see you use the phrase, 'well-known
fact.' I wouldn't do that."
"Why not?" she asked.
"Well, if a thing is well-known, why
mention it?"
His wife said nothing In rejoinder
at. the time, but a few days later, while
reading one of his articles in print,
she found something to criticize.
"Horace," she said, "I am surprised
to see you using the phrase, 'self-evi-
dent.' "
"What's the matter with that?"
"Why, if a thing is self-evident,
what is the use of calling attention to
It ?"
Horace looked at her sharply over
his glasses, but made no Ttrbal re-
sponse.—Youth's Companion
A Knowing Girl.
When young Lord Stanleigh came
to visit an American familj, the mis-
tress told the servants th»t in ad-
dressing him they should always say
• Your Grace." When the yming gen-
tleman one mori ing met orm of the
pretty house servants in th% hallway
and told her that she was attrac-
tive looking he thought he would kiss
hef, she demurely replied clasping
—~~ her hands on her bosom anc looking
«. . up into his face with a btaulfic ex-
/VO Corsets at West Point pression, "O Lord, for this blessing
Col. K. B. Collins, a retired army officer who wo urc' ftbout to receive, thank
was seen at the Raleigh, In discussing West thee."—Lipplncott's.
Pointers said to a reporter of the Washington
Herald: "I have often heard a question as Plenty of Material,
to whether West Pointers wore corsets. It is "Son," said the press humorist, "you
absurd, In a way, because should any effem- have Inherited some of my humor."
Not enough to make a living with,
dad."
"Never mind. I'm going to leave
you all of my jokes."
Inate youngster resort to such a thing it
would be an impossibility to keep the affuir
a secret, and, once known, his school life would
become a burden to him on account of tho
endless amount of criticism he would receive
from his fellows. He would be made the
laughing stock of the school and would soon
find himself the possessor of any number of
effeminate nicknames that would grate upon
his ears in any but a pleasant manner.
"It Is true," continued the old soldier, "that
man} Wast Pointers acquire a figure tin- per- ■
feet ion of symmetry and a carriage the acme -r< » .. t:*... _ J
of manly grace, but these are due not to any There S Vitality, Snap and g
ingenious appliance, but to the systematic jjjl a breakfast of
drills and exercises that make every cadet, to
a certain extent, an athlete. At the outset
these young fellows are put through what are
called the 'setting up' exercises, their object
being to straighten the body and develop tho
chest. One might suppose that it would re-
quire a great amount of such exercise to make
any marked showing, but three long hours
of such exercise daily will soon produce bene-
liclal results in the most stooped form*.
Tho cadet uniform is also a great help in
this direction. The dress coat is tight., very
tight. The shoulders are heavily padded in
order to give them a square effect. The chest
ti made thick, so that there will be no dan-
ger of wrinkling. And in size, a new dress
coat seems always to be designed for a boy
several sizes smaller than the one who Is to
wear it. A new dress cont, in fact, is always
a source of suffering to its owner. When he
first puts it on, it buttons readily about the
neck, but seems to lack about six inches at
the waist. The owner may squirm and wrig-
gle and attempt to reduce his waist to a mini-
mum circumference, but his maiden efforts are t f, 9 „ ff
never sufficient to button the new dress coat. 1 ' I Here S a ivCaSOn
Kxperlencu la a ureal teacher, though, and the d j .L- famous little book,
youflg fellow laughingly requests one or two
friends to .'end their assistance, and with their
combined tugging and squeezing he llnally suc-
ceeds In buttoning the coat. All this for the
sake of looks; comfort hns no place In the
makeup of u West Pointer; It Is discipline ami
looks."
As He Remembered It.
"Johnnie, what did the minister
preach about today?"
"It was abciut something thai stings
like an adder and bites like a multi-
plier."
Grape-Nuts
and cream.
Why?
Because nature stores up
In wheat and barley
The Potassium Phosphate
In such form as to
Nourish brain and nerves.
The food expert who originated
Grape-Nuts
Retained this valuable
Element in the food.
"The Road to Wallville,"
Found in Packages.
POSTUM CKRKAL COMPANY, Llu»Ue4»
l'.«Ulr 4'jwk, MlchktfftA.
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Wood, A. B. Mulhall Enterprise (Mulhall, Okla.), Vol. 18, No. 30, Ed. 1 Friday, July 29, 1910, newspaper, July 29, 1910; Mulhall, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc305119/m1/3/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.