Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/778

UNITED STATES. largest numbers, and there are more pure-blooded and grade shorthorns in the United States to-day than all other breeds. The ‘hustling’ qualities of the Herefords made them favorites in the range States. The polled Angus were introduced later (1870), but have become rivals of the Herefords for beef purposes, especially in the North Central States. These three breeds comprise practically all the pure-blooded cattle in the United States used for breeding and for grading up native cattle for beef purposes. In feeding and breeding beef cattle it has been the aim in recent years to reduce the time necessary to prepare the animal for market. In the Western and South Central States the average age of range cattle decreased six months from 1890 to 1900. It was claimed that in the latter year cattle matured a year earlier than in 1880. Pure-blood bulls are most common in the range States of the West.

The method of cattle-raising in the range region has greatly changed in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Formerly cattle were pastured and driven about without hindrance over Government lands. To-day much of the range area is inclosed by wire fences. Part of the former range area has been settled by small farmers, but produces more cattle than under the old system. Instead of letting range cattle shift for themselves in winter, as formerly, it is common to provide food and protection for them.

The recent remarkable development in the dairying industry has exercised a decided influence over cattle-raising. The number of milk or dairy cows increased from 6,385,000 in 1850 to 17,139,674 in 1900, while the increase in dairy value of these cattle was proportionately much greater. See, and.

The United States has accomplished more in the development of new and superior breeds of hogs than in that of any other farm animal. Indeed, in both the quality of the breed and in absolute number the United States stands almost alone in this branch of industry. In 1900 the United States had as many hogs as the entire Continent of Europe.

The hog is the largest consumer of American corn, and where there is an abundance of one there are large holdings of the other. The hog is ready for the market at an early age, and is therefore a ‘quick-money’ animal. If it can be saved from disease it is the most profitable investment for the corn-grower. It has won the appellation of ‘mortgage-lifter.’ Until toward 1850 the most common grade was the half-wild, long-legged, thin animals known as ‘razor-backs.’ They are still common in the Southern States, but before 1830 a distinct breed, the Chester White, had been developed in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and about 1840 another new breed, the Poland China, originated in southwestern Ohio. The Durocs or Jersey Reds, another native breed, first became common in New Jersey, and is now well known over the country. Through these and other improved native breeds, together with the imported Berkshires, the grade of hogs in the North Central States has been improved until it has reached a very high standard. Stockmen have aimed at securing a breed that will fatten quickly and at an early age. The Poland China satisfies this condition, and its imprint is most noticeable among American hogs.

Sheep hold a much lower rank in the agricultural economy of the United States than in that of most modern nations. The industry has labored under the disadvantages of a vacillating tariff policy, and for a number of years has had to compete with the growing flocks of Australasia and of the Plata region of South America. In the United States the number of sheep increased from 28,477,591 in 1870 to 50,626,626 in 1884, after which year there was a rapid decrease in numbers. During the middle of the nineteenth century the merino was the prevailing breed, and in 1870 more than four-fifths of all the sheep in the United States were either pure breed or grade merino. In 1900 it is estimated that 30 per cent. of the flocks in the range country were of mutton breeds, and that from seventy to eighty per cent. of those in the farming States had a predominance of English blood. The merino blood still predominates in the range States. In consequence of this change the average value of sheep nearly doubled between 1870 and 1900. The average weight of the fleece increased from 4.8 pounds in 1880 to 5.6 pounds in 1890 and 6.7 in 1900. Thus, although the number of sheep decreased, there was a large gain in the total wool production, amounting to 16.8 per cent. in the decade 1890-1900. The number of sheep in the United States in 1900, outside of the Western division of States, was not so great as in 1850. Sheep-grazing began to spread rapidly in the Western division about 1870. Since 1890 there has been most remarkable development in sheep-grazing in the northern Cordilleran States. In Montana, the foremost sheep State in the Union (4,215,000 head in 1900), the increase amounted to 79.2 per cent.; in Wyoming, which ranks third, the increase amounted to 367 per cent.; while in Idaho it was 449.5 per cent. In New England the dairy industry has supplanted sheep-raising, so that the number of sheep in 1900 was less than one-third the number in 1850. Since 1880 there has been a decline in the North Central States, particularly Ohio. Texas in 1890 had attained first rank, but in 1900 had only one-third the number of sheep reported for the earlier year. Elsewhere through the Southern States the industry was never important, and has declined generally since 1850.

The importance of the production of eggs and poultry in the United States is not generally realized. The value of the poultry and the egg products in 1899—$136,891,877 and $144,286,370 respectively—was two-thirds greater than the value of wool and about one-fourth greater than that of oats produced in that year. The egg production (chicken) for the year amounted to 1,293,818,144 dozen, an increase of 474,000,000 dozen over 1889. This gain was partly due to the greater use of the incubator. The value of the egg product in Ohio and Iowa in 1899 each exceeded $10,000,000. The different kinds of fowls in 1900 numbered as follows: Chickens, 233,598,005; turkeys, 6,599,367; geese, 5,676,863; and ducks, 4,807,358. The foregoing figures are for farms, not villages, and do not include fowls under three months old.

See the articles on and .

The United States is the foremost manufacturing country in the world. The net value of its manufactured products in 1900