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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 2, 1917)
. v THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND.' DECEMBER 2, 1917. I . m m F . - -. - 1 rgv&axrK -i "V i ...... Lvrifej- of li k r 7? 7 -iru x I I rum I 1 ;j " l'H,H pnwrtiMM II' S J S 1 d CI II I I I -.. ' llll 1 III . . ' -'4 4' - XMK-.-MMg-wM s : - ' ... II IE TTt H.. STOCKYARDS. Chicago. From thl city of animals. In the heart of this city of men. I write of the Tneat industry of the United States. This cojntry is the chief meat pro ducer of the world, and just now, when all the nations are fighting-, it become most important as one of the great centers of the food supply. Let us look at all the assets of the nations and take account of the stock now on hand. I have before me reports from the De partment of Agriculture giving the latest statistics of cattle, hogs and sheep for all parts of the world. They ehow that we have now on out farms 61,000,000 cattle, 6-8,000,000 hdlks and 49,000,000 sheep. These alone are more than double the stock of Germany and Austria-Hungary. You might add the animals from Bulgaria and Turkey, and the whole would not nearly equal those of our country. In addition, oar allies in Europe have vast numbers of domestic animals. At the beginning of the war Russia had 2'4 times as many cattle as Germany. The number was 52,000,000, and at the earns time it had about 43,000,000 sheep. It ranks as the fourth sheep I'ountrv of the world, its only superiors being the United States, with 49.000,000, and Argentina and Australia, each of which has more than 80,000,000. We may fairly reckon Australia with the allies, although the meat has to be brought about 12,000 miles in getting to Europe, and the same is true of Canada, which has something like 11, 000.000 or 12,000,000 farm animals to aid in filling the stomachs of the sol diers in France. At the beginning of the war Germany had 20,000,000 cattle, 17,000,000 hogs and 8,000,000 sheep, and Austria-Hungary had only from one third to one-half as many. On the other hand, France. Great Britain and Russia had at home and in their colo nies about 91,000.000 cattle, 28,000,000 hogs and 202,000,000 sheep. But among these great stockralsers of the world Uncle Sam stands alone. He is the Job of the 20th century, and, like the man in the land of Uz, his substance makes him "the greatest of all the men in the east." He Is the chief cattle raiser and owner among the nations. Last year his livestock was estimated at a value of $3,32,000', 000, or more than 433 per head of our population. Thfs referred only to the stock on the farms and ranges, and outside of that there was an additional value of cattle, sheep andhogs, which amounted to over $3 per family. The wholesale packing houses and slaugh tering establishments and the farms upon which the animals are raised rep resent a capital of hundreds of mil lions, and it is estimated that Uncle Sam's whole meat-producing plant is worth in the neighborhood of $18,000, 000,000, or enough to give every Amer ican family $900 worth of stock in the company. This does npt include the re ceipts from transportation or the re tail trade., The numbers of the cattle, sheep and hogs raised here are so great that if they were divided equally every family would have three cattle, two sheep and three hogs and there would be many thousand little pigs and lambs to spare. As a consumer of meat the United States also stands at the head of the During the past decade the cause of the hen has been rec ognized by practically all of the agricultural experiment stations in the important poultry-producing states. From a more or less obscure beginning the poul try business has steadily ad- vanced until we speakof it to day as our billion-dollar indus try." Much of this progress is due to the untiring efforts of poultry investigators. BY CHARLES L. OPPERMAN, Formerly State Poultryman of Maryland. TE aim of the experiment stations has been to show, by careful tests of various kinds what feeds are best adapted to egg production, how the egg production of the flocW can be Improved through selection and breed ing, what type of house is best suited to the needs of the fowls and how dls- j eases may be treated and eliminated. In fact, all important phases of poultry keepinc have received careful consid eration and study. From this- work there has accumulated a vast vwealth of information, available to every poul tryman for the asking. That farmers and poultry keepers generally have failed to make use of this knowledpe is well known. Many farmers and commercial poultrymen have sold off their stock during the past year because of high-priced feeds. It is Impossible, they say, to make any profit under present conditions. Why Some Breeders; Fall. On the other hand, we find any num her of poultry keepers who are making money and planning to Increase the extent of their operations as fast as posslple. What is the difference between these two classes? 1 Observations have convinced me that the failure of the former Is due to the fact that they have not kept abreast of the times. They fail to see the need of utilizing the information that has been obtained from experimental work. To them & hen is a hen. regardless of JIodemPouliry (uwsM I X is ! list. ThereTlre many countries where almost no meat Is eaten, and It Is said that over half the world's population lives upon food other than meat. The nations which have a surplus of meat for export are all meat-eating coun tries, and they are comparatively few in number. In fact, the world's export trade in meat products Is maintained by only nine nations. It is from the United States, Argentina, " Australia. Canada, Denmark, Mexico, New Zea land, Uruguay and Russia that the world's supply of meat is obtained. The entire production is estimated at about 50,000,000,000 pounds per year, and this is consumed by the people of compara tively few countries. It is divided among a population of about 500,000,000 and the average consumption per cap ita is just over 93 pounds of beef, mut ton and pork in one year. We Amer icans are the biggest meat eaters on the globe, with perhaps the exception of the Australians or the New Zea landers. We consume 50 per cent more meat than Great Britain or Germany, and twice as much as the people of France. In 1900 we were each eating on the average 181 pounds of meat per year, and although this has since some what decreased On account of the high prices, we still consume more than 170 pounds of beef, pork" and mutton for every man, woman and child in the country. The last census has estimated that over 15,000,000,000 pounds of meat and meat products were consumed here in 1909, while less than one-half that amount represents the consumption in Germany for the year 1913. Rut let us see how this vast demand is supplied, and how the thousands of her egg production. They don't know i tha; when wheat reaches a price that i prohibits its use for poultry It can be i substituted by other feeds. Only a few days ago a pdultryman told me there was no use fooling with hens If wheat had to be omitted from the ration. If this man had been acquainted with the results of recent feeding tests he would not have made such a statement. The Wheatleaa Ration. For more than a yea? the Govern ment has been trying out what Is known as the wheatless ration. The results obtained from the experiment have been so encouraging that the ra tion is now being advocated all over the country.- The scratch feed is com posed of two pounds of cracked corn and one pound of oats, and the mash is made up of three 'pounds of corn meal and one pound of beef scraps. The mash is kept in a hopper, to which the birds have free access at all times, and the scratch feed is given In the litter. The aim is to regulate the quantity of scratch feed so that the fowls will consume about equal parts of the scratch and mash. Similar feeding experiments are con stantly being conducted by the differ ent poultry experiment stations in various parts of the country. The poul try keeper who hopes to feed his flock economically must keep in touch with this work. Write to your state experi ment station and ask for war-time feeding literature and then put the suggestions into practice. A comparative test between pure bred fowls and mongrels, staged by a certain experiment station seyeral years ago, demonstrated very clearly the superiority of the pure-breds over dunghills. The actual figures showead that the former returned a profit of slightly over 50 cents -more per bird than the latter. Yet in the face of this evidence we find that" the mongrels still hold sway on farms all over the country. The farmers who persist In following the old ruts have only them selves to blame if farm poultry fails to return a good profit over the cost of feed. - Late Moltera Recommended. The breeding experiments at the Maine station, together with those 'of New York. Connecticut and other states. have shown now .the farmer and com animals are killed and made ready for ' the markets at home and for shipment to our Army in France. During my stay here in Chicago I have spent much time in -the stockpens and packing es- j tabllshments, watching the journey of the steer as it comes in on the freight cars from the farms until it goes out In the hundred and more shapes in which it is sold in our markets. Chi cago is the heart of the livestock and packing industry of the United States. It is to meat what Akron is to rubber, and what -Detroit is to the automobile. It leads all other stockyards of the United States, and its receipts are more than double those of the Omaha stock yards, which stand next in importance. Its combined receipts for all kinds of cattle amounted last year to nearly 17,000,000, while Omaha had less than 8,000,000 and Kansas City only a little more than 7,000,000. It handled three times as many animals as St. Louis, and more than four times the number that passed through the stockyards at St. Paul. The total number of cattle which were turned into beef at the 14 chief markets of the- United States amounted to nearly 62,000,000. The average length of a steer is about 10 feet, and if all of the cattle handled last year could be placed nose to tail they would form a single file half way to the moon. At five abreast they would reach almost around the world, and the cattle from these Chicago stockyards alone would make a proces sion of 10 deep as long as from here to the camps of our boys on the battle fields of France. - But come with me and take a look mercial poultry keeper can improve egg production without the use of the trap nest. . Trap-nest records of thou sands of fowls kept at these institu tions show that the late molter Is gen erally a good layer; that early pro ducing pullets are usually high pro ducers; that pale-colored shanks in the Fall in the breeds that have yellow shanks are a good indication of high performance; that the first and second years of a hen's life are the most pro ductive, and that hens must possess strong, vigorous constitutions to with stand heavy production. In addition to these practical lessons. there Is available, to the poultry keeper wno wisnes to practice careful pedi gree breeding, a great mass of data covering the different phases of such- work. Calling I'ndeslrable Speelmeas. To make a profit today the poultry keeper must offset the disadvantage of high-priced feed by getting rid of the drones. Every bird must pay a profit above the cost of her feed,, and if the early moltera, slow-developing pullets. hens that are two years old, and the sickly, anemic Individuals are elim inated, this is easily possible. Apply the lessons drawn from experimental work and cull everything that does not come up to specifications. Several experiment stations have car ried out elaborate investigations in con nection with the housing of poultry. A great many different types of houses have been tested, and the results in variably show that the highest degree of health and .productiveness obtain only when the house is dry, well ven tilated and so constructed that the in terior Is flooded with sunlight. Yet it is no trouble to find any number of poultry houses that are damp, very poorly ventilated and seldom warmed with a ray of sunshine. Their owners wonder why the flock develops colds and roup and fails to lay during the Winter months. High-priced feeds will surely drive such husbandmen out of business unless they change the quar ters of the layers to conform with the housing requirements that careful ex periments have established. On re ceipt of a postal request your experi ment stations will forward complete details of modern poultry housing. , In addition to the work on feeding. Zjr-oyfj- oS Jzs. Vara m at this city of animals. It covers a square mile or as much ground as a 640-acre farm. We first walk through the stockyards themselves. The air is filled withhe bellowing of steers, the lowing of cows, the baaing of sheep and the shrill squealing of pigs. There are thousands upon thousands of these animals all about us. Here great droves of steers are being unloaded from the cars, and tens of thousands of them are moving this way and that on their way to be sold or killed. We climb to the roof of a tall building at one side and look down. Pens filled with cattle, hogs and sheep reach far out in all directions. The pens are ar ranged along streets which cross each other at right angles. The city has its own sections and wards and each has its own class of four-footed citizens. There is one section devoted to cat tle, where several hundred beasts push each other about in each pen. Farther over is a section filled entirely with sheep, where thousands of woolly crea tures are bleating and baaing, and Just here at -our feet is an army of fax porkers, some grunting contented ly and others squealing like mad. Notice the pens'. Each has a trough for water and another for food. There are hundreds of such troughs and many miles of drainage and water pipes. The water for the stock comes fronf artesian wells driven 1200 feet down into the ground, taW below the level of Lake Michigan, and the food is the best that can be procured. See the railroad tracks which extend out on each side. There are hundreds of miles of them in and about the stock yards, and long trains come in and go breeding and housing, there Is a great mass of miscellaneous information of untold value. Such subjects as the care and feeding of chicks, operation of the incubator and brooder, how to prepare homemade lice powders and disin fectants, how to treat common diseases, and a hundred and one similar ques tions are carefully worked out in de tail. Most of this information is com IN England the Black Leghorn ranks' highly as a utility toyl; In America it has not been so widely bred. Of late, however, there has been a revival of Interest In this variety, and some fanciers are predicting a boom in Black Leghorns. They point tothe fact that this variety always presents a neat ap pearance, and is more attractive than a white bird with soiled plumage, such as is found frequently when the birds are kept in limited quarters. Only their, color has prevented the Black Leghorns from attaining wide spread popularity. This variety Is sup posed to be the original Leghorn the kind native to Italy, from which tha White. Buff and Brown have sprung. It Is noted for egg production. The Black Le&horn has made ra- t single: comb black leguokms. - ........... .......................... ................4 out every hour of the day, bringing In new animals and carrying away in their refrigerator cars the beef and other packed products for the markets of our country and for transshipment to France. There are high buildings rising out of the labyrinth of pem They form the exchange where the stockmen and packers come to buy and sell these four-footed citizens. These men handle tens of millions of hogs, cattle and sheep every year. The animals in the pens are changed daily. Those that we see moving below us will be dead by this time tomorrow, and another horde will have taken their places. The dally business of the stockyards amounts to more than $1,000,000, and I am told that 89,000 hogs. 71.000 sheep and 9000 calves have been handled here in 24 hours. I went through the city of animals in the morning when the selling was at its height. The streets were filled with cattle, hogs and sheep, driven by men from one place to another. Some of the drovers were on horseback and some on foot. They yelled at the beasts and cracked their great whips. The agents of the packing-houses were moving about looking at the stock: they seemed to buy at a glance, and the sellers jotted down the purchases in their notebooks. When the selling hours are over the animals are weighed, and then driven off to be slaughtered. They are .care fully inspected at every stage in their Journey. As soon as they leave the cars they are examined for hoof and mouth disease. The cattle are tested for tuberculosis and tick, the hogs ex amined for cholera and tuberculosis and the sheep for tick and scabies. These inspections are made by repre-sentat-ives of the Government, and all suspected are tagged and sold at lower prices. Great care Is taken to prevent piled in pamphlet form and furnished free. In the pre-war days it was compara tively easy to make a profit from poul try with haphazard methods of man agement, and a great host of poultry keepers paid little or no attention to the constantly improved methods that were being inaugurated. As a conse quence of this lack of progress, in many markable records in egg production. and the eggs are larger than those of the other Leghorns. It is sprightly and .ctive, being a good forager and profitable farm chicken. Its plumage is of glossy, greenish black, contrasting strongly with Its white earlobes and large red combs and wattles. Like all the other Leghorns, the Blacks grow fast. They have a yellow skin, but the dark pin f:-thers show to disadvantage In the dressed' fowl. Until recently most Black Leghorns had dark legs, but of late fanciers have succeeded In breeding them with pure yellow legs. - Like others of the same breed, tha Black Leghorns are practically non-sitters. S - I f 'M i, ', S 71 I 2s : - Ess' R fAH' ' J the spread of any Infection by an ex- 1 cedent system of drainage. I walked about through the pens and watched them drive the cattle up the Inclined roadway to the upper stories of the slaughter-house, where the kill ing takes place. As they come up they are Inclosed In a pen. A platform runs around this and upon it stands a bare armed man holding a long-handled hammer. Only a few animals are let in at a time, but the pen is so small that they are jammed close together. The man strikes them on the head, one by one, a single blow with his hammer, killing them Instantly. As the cattle fall the floor of the pen droos little and they roll out onto the cement pavement below, the floor slid ing back into place for the slaughter of others. Each of the dead animals Is now hooked by the hind legs to a pulley and raised, head downward, to a. wheel which runs on a track overhead. In this way it is carried through the other departments of the factory. As it goes on past man after man each does something to fit the carcass for beef. One butcher cuts the throat to let out the blood, which must be used to make fertilizer; others clean the carcass and' others take off the skin hoofs and horns, all of which are saved for oil, glue, leather or some other by-product. When the carcass Is ready for beef it is divided along the backbone, mak ing two sides, and it is in this shape that it Is shipped abroad to our soldiers or sold to the retail butchers. It does not take more than 20 minutes -from the time the steer is killed until it is ready to be examined by the Govern ment inspectors and hung up in the refrigerating roera. .And yet it has passed through the hands of about 20 men. The meat haa to go through many processes before it is ready for eating. If It is to be canned it travels to the departments where it is trimmed, cooked and sealed up in tins. If it is to be -sold fresh it slides along on the overhead trolley -into the great refrig erating chambers, which are so large that they will hold 10.000 aides of beef at one time, and so cold that the tem perature is Just above freezing. Here it remains for 48 hours, and becomes chilled through. It next travels on a track down to tile ground floor, where It is loaded into the cold storage cars, which will take it to the chief cities of the United States and to the ports where It will be packed in the refrig erating rooms of the steamers which will carry It to France. V It is Interesting to see just what the packer gets out of a steer. Cost ef ficiency sheets and the saving of waste have been brought to a fine point and, after a trip about the factories here in Chicago, it is easy to believe that "nothing is lost but the squeal." The average steer weighs about 1000 pounds when alive and yields to the packer 535 pounds of dressed beef. Eighty-nine per cent of this is sold as refrigerator beef, 7 per cent is froz en and the remaining 4 per cent goes to be cured or canned. In the early days of the industry almost all of the remainder of the carcass went to waste lnstances they have been unable to meet the severe conditions of high priced feed and similar difficulties brought about by the war, and have been forced to go out of business. These so-called failures do not mean that poultry keeping cannot be carried on at a profit, but they do Indicate in a very positive manner that success de pends on our efforts to make the flock efficient from every standpoint. The experiment stations are pointing the way. FOOD FOR HOGS SAVED Valuable Experiment Is Conducted by University of California. BERKELEY. Cal., Nov. 2S. Univer sity of California experts have figured that pork equivalent to 1 per cent of the whole food supply of California might be produced by feeding to swine garbage now thrown away in the state. In order to secure this figure the uni versity maintained a garbage-collecting route In Oakland. It discovered that the refuse from 19 families contained enough food mat ter suitable for hogs to average five pounds per person, or 21 pounds per family each week. This means that the available hog feed now burned up in the Berkeley incinerator alone would produce 1500 pounds of pork a day, or the equivalent of all the food needed for the S61 youths drafted from Berke ley and a hundred university students besides. HOOKWORM IS SPREADING Thousands of Australians Reported Infected With Disease. SYDNEY. Australia. Nov. 10. Hook worm disease will' spread ere long all over Papua (British New Guinea) un less vigorous steps are taken at once to check it, in the opinion of Dr. J. H. Walte, f the Rockefeller Foundation who has Just Investigated the malady In the huge Island north of Australia. "The International Health Doard," said Dr. Waite, "found that 65 per cent of the natives working on plantations were infected with the hookworm, and 8 per cent of the natives in villages. Dr. Waitc pointed out that under present conditions the disease could be eradicated at relatively email cost; whereas if allowed to spread a lost formidable task would be presented. "The International Health Board' he and great values were lost on the scrap heap. Today, with the application of the methods of modern science and attention to the most minute details. these enormous wastes are conserved, and it is said that the by-products really make possible the profits of these great meat-packing plants. rom the refuse meat come valuable fats, which axe manufactured into grease, tallow, soap and various lu bricating products, and also fertilizers with high percentages of nitrogen and phosphoric acid. The hides are sold just now at "great profit to the tan neries and the bones and horns go to manufacturers of buttons, combs and other ornaments. The hair is used in the making of mattresses. and the sinews and hide trimmings are trans formed into the glue that is sold in our stores. The same methods obtain In the handling of sheep and of hogs and every . department throughout these great butcher shops seems to be run with the highest degree of efficiency and the lowest percentage of waste. I talked today with one of the lead ing officials of Swift St Company as to the danger of the failure of our meat supply and of the Increasing rise In the prices of beef. Said he: " "The profit on every steer we handle, by-products and all. Is only 3 per cent. Where our money is made Is In the short time It takes to handle the ani mals and the number we can turn over in a year's time. Th only way to cut the price is. I believe, for peo ple to eat less beef every day. I am not in favor of the meatless day. It will not be a success for the reason that the stream of meat flowing out of the packing centers throughout the country is as regular as a river and you cannot dam it by spasmodic sav ing.' The real trouble lies with the housewife and the demands of the present. We have more animals per capita than ever before. The trouble is wa have loosened our belts and are taking jnore meat and better cuts into our stomachs. If the ordinary house keeper would pay one-tenth as much attention to the saving of the waste In her kitchen as we do here in our handling the meat the high cosi of her: living would be materially re duced." "But will we be able to supply our great army In Europe?" I asked. "I see no reason why not." was the reply. "We have the vast ranges on which to raise the cattle, and we have the corn to fatten them. The price of corn, however. Is at present almost prohibitive, and some other substi tutes fou fattening the cattle will have to be found. No one need fear that the supply of American beef will give out. but there Is good reason for him to expect that It will become higher rather than lower In price. The day of cheap beef Is over, and the rise in price is due more to the demands and profit of the producer than to those of the packer. For years we have been returning to the cattleman almost 90 per cent of what we get for the beef and the by-products, and the responsi bility for the high prices of today rests with him." explained, "has made an offer to the government Of Queensland and New South Wales to conduct an antl-hook-worm campaign In infected districts providing the:e states will defray one third of the total cost." INDIAN INVESTS $10,000 Tulalip Reservation Folk Thrilled by Speech of Superintendent. EVERETT. Wn., Nov. 25. Indians of the Tulalip Reservation near here were so enthusiastic during the recent sec ond liberty loan drive they would have Invested every dollar they possessed had they been left to themselves. Dr. Charles M. Buchanan, superintendent of the reservation said here recently. One Indian woman, who Is rich from the sale of timber. Invested $10,000 In the bonds. William Shelton. one of the Indians, addressed the tribe during the cam paign, and. according to Dr. Buchanan, thrilled not only the Indians but also the white people who could not under stand Shelton, who spoke In his native tongue. - "Talk about Patrick Henry." ex plained the doctor. "Shelton'a address had Henry distanced. It was a fine speech for he is a fluent speaker iind a good thinker. Sf Feed and eggs are worth too M much money this season to let A m your hens loaf on the job. V Koep the Hns M Laying with 1 I This great rejuvenator and egg produ- B cersuppliestheexact chemical ingredi- ents that a hen must have if she is to be a real egg producer. Cleans the blood, tones up the system and promotes Rood health, and gets winter eggs. Good m foe yoqny chck. W. fUl.c no yww B IMpBar-just (04 tonl aoeandeOc M COftKCY'S ROUP REMEDY B aoe. 0e, t 10. i-lh. can 7.0. Jot If put it in th. drinking .itir r m VB, chickens dorter thi mstlw Asa ini dealer.
