American Agriculture (Cont.)

In recent years, cattle raising has received enormous development on the plains of Texas and the far West. Texas has long been celebrated as the great kingdom of cattle, but now all that vast territory which was recently marked on maps as “the great American desert” is flooded with hundreds of thousands of cattle. An enormous quantity of the finest young bulls is driven north annually, where on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming they are kept as it were in traveling shops awaiting their call to market. Along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains there graze many young cows where they are raised on delicious mountain grass. Texas presents a splendid place for breeding and increasing cattle, but it is remarkable that in Texas the cattle never achieve great size; but the same cattle, when moved to other regions, obtain considerable increase in volume. Great heats, periodic droughts, and lack of water, so that sometimes one must travel thirty to forty miles to reach it, serve probably as the reasons for this, as well as the fact that good breeds cannot exist and multiply in Texas. These vast plains in autumn present a sad picture. All is burned and bare, and for miles on end not a green leaf is visible. Short, withered grass appears brown and burned to the root; but this apparently worthless grass is in essence self-made hay. It grows quickly in spring and dries in the sun before ripening. If drought is followed by rains in June, the grass may live again, but it is then soon killed by frost, and in this state it is almost completely useless. There are sometimes early autumn severe snowstorms lasting several days, but after them again sets in splendid warm weather, often up to Christmas. Deep snows are rare. When heavy snow falls, the cattle suffer terribly from it, but it is soon ordinarily blown away by the wind from the plains, and herds easily find the grass. Herds are managed by young shepherds, and the skill with which they throw the lasso on wild calves while pursuing them on their lean ponies is astounding. Each cattle raiser has his own brand, entered in the government register, and counterfeiting it is strictly punished. The first shipments of cattle for the meat market are sent out early in summer, and the last at the end of November. By general agreement, in recent years the net income of cattle raisers on average has equaled 33 percent on capital. There is no doubt that this is one of the most profitable branches of American farm economy, but to ensure a large percentage, one must have large capital. For example, the owner of 10,000 head of cattle with 150 horses must have 7 or 8,000 dollars in cash for successful conduct of the occupation. Small herds require comparatively more. A herd of a thousand head requires for its maintenance almost as much as a herd of 5,000. A herd of 5,000 must have 100 horses for shepherds, whereas a herd of 10,000 head requires only 150. The expenses for maintaining a good herd during the year do not ordinarily exceed 1 1/2 dollars per head, and in some cases come down to 1 dollar. Within an area of one hundred square miles in Wyoming Territory, herds number from 1,000 to 35,000 head. Their average value is determined at 20 dollars per head. In this territory the losses of cattle from all causes are determined at only 2 [1]/3 percent per year. In Texas and other districts they are estimated at 5–10 percent. A herd of 10,000 head annually produces from 1,500 to 2,000 of the new generation. Four-year-old steers are sold for 25 and 30 dollars, while the cost of raising each does not exceed 10 dollars. Most cattle is sold at markets in Chicago, and some is sent directly to New York, where it is slaughtered and shipped to England. One must marvel at what vast distances these semi-wild Texas bulls travel. They traverse thousands of miles and during this journey often even increase in weight. Sometimes, however, they suffer greatly from droughts and lack of water, and sometimes whole herds perish after eating some sort of poisonous spring grass.

In enormous quantities, raw meat is sent from the Chicago slaughterhouses to New York and the eastern states. For this purpose, there are special meat trains with special meat arrangements, cooling apparatus, so that meat and various dairy products arrive from Chicago in New York in perfectly fresh condition, no matter what heats may rage. From New York the meat is sent to England on ships with cooling apparatus, and at Liverpool it is unloaded as fresh as it was at the place of preparation in Chicago. In England there are no such arrangements and the meat often spoils on the way from Liverpool to London. But this is already the fault of the Americans. “Why should we extend our care of the meat to the very mouth of our dear cousins,” answer the Americans to English complaints that in London the meat is not as fresh as in Liverpool.

On the western plains herds are kept more for meat. On eastern farms, by contrast, for dairy production. But dairy production is not particularly renowned in America. Besides, for some reason in recent years it has become particularly unprofitable, and many farms have reduced it to modest proportions. Until recently, the eastern states were the principal producers of butter and cheese. New York State led in this regard. But now the west begins to surpass in this matter and it supplies all the east with enormous quantities of cheese and butter. As for the quality of these products, much cannot be said. Recently efforts have been made to improve butter production, and apparently some results have been achieved, but even now it cannot equal European butter. Now, however, there is noticeable among the Americans a tendency generally for dairy production to use scientific economic guidance. Americans have greater success in cheese making, and until last year, when prices fell, its production was very profitable. But in general, if it must be said that American butter is poor, then it can be said of cheese that it is quite good, though again not of the first grade and cannot equal European. In some states attempts have been made to introduce production of various sorts of European cheeses, but these attempts have not yet grown to such proportions that anything definite and positive could be said about their results. American cheese is remarkably uniform—the same shape, the same color and quality. Americans consume little of it. Of the 300,000,000 pounds produced, more than 40 percent goes abroad. About 1,000,000,000 pounds of butter is produced, and it is almost entirely consumed by the Yankees themselves; no more than two percent goes abroad.

America is not renowned for horse raising. Horses on farms exist only in numbers needed for everyday farm work. They are light, swift, and are used for every purpose. A horse plows and carts grain to the railroad station, takes the farmer to market in town and his family to church on Sundays. The team, however, ordinarily consists of a pair of horses, like those of our Germans. A pair of horses is ordinarily sufficient for the plow. The ordinary price of a good farm horse is from 100 to 150 dollars, and young colts from 200 to 250 dollars.

Sheep raising in America is also insignificant. This is evident from the fact that the number of sheep is only slightly greater than the number of cattle. Large flocks of sheep are kept in the southwest solely for wool. Not only is the quantity of meat they supply insignificant, but the quality of the meat itself is not of high value, and besides, the cost of transporting such small animals is so great that it is scarcely compensated by this aspect of the trade. And regarding wool production, there are no grounds for supposing that America could develop it to great proportions in the next few years and begin to export wool. At present she herself imports a large quantity of wool from England and her colonies.

More than sheep raising, America can boast of its swine raising. The pig—the most fortunate citizen of the American republic—that is, among four-legged animals. It enjoys full freedom on farms, roots and sleeps wherever it wishes. Thanks to such liberty, it reaches considerable weight at a comparatively early age. The average live weight of a pig slaughtered in winter equals 280 pounds, in summer—240 English pounds. A deduction of 20 percent from the live weight ordinarily gives the weight of the pork carcass. Nowhere can one see such enormous herds of swine as in the corn states of America. Except perhaps in Indian territory you can see thousands of pigs, each finer than the last. The most common breed of pig is the Berkshire. Pigs of this breed reach maturity early and are distinguished by a large amount of pure meat in proportion to fat. Another widely distributed breed is the Poland China. These pigs grow fat extremely quickly and reach enormous weight. The speed with which pigs are slaughtered and prepared for the meat market in large American slaughterhouses is astonishing. Suffice it to say that a pig is seized by the hind leg, hoisted up, slaughtered, scalded, cleaned, drawn, beheaded, split in half, and sent to the cold storage—all this in some 10–15 minutes. Swine raising in America, for all its profitability, is sometimes not without loss. American pigs are subject to various diseases, and especially dreaded is the so-called “hog cholera.” No remedy against it is effective, and the cause of its appearance is completely incomprehensible to swine raisers. It is extremely contagious, and sometimes whole districts are completely cleared of swine. In some places it rages over the unfortunate animals with such force that farmers temporarily cease swine raising altogether.

Little can be said in praise of American poultry raising, except for turkeys, which are generally quite good and raised without great difficulty. But they, however, do not reach the weight of good European breeds and in form approach the wild breeds. Chickens in general are of poor breed. If of Texas cattle it is said that it consists only of “legs and horns,” then of American chickens it must be said that they consist of “legs and wings.” In the plucked state they with their pale-yellow skin present a far from appetizing picture. They are too light and active, and if there were not so much cheap grain for fattening them, they would scarcely be fit for a decent table. Nevertheless, Americans are great chicken raisers, and on every Sunday a chicken is an indispensable part of the table.

If now we summarize what has been set forth, it must be said that America with regard to natural resources is far from a paradise, though in the competition for agricultural supremacy it has considerable advantages presented by new, inexhaustible soil. Of particular importance in the development of the agricultural wealth of the United States are the railroads. The people spare no efforts to extend this right hand of civilization as far as possible. In America it is not the population that goes first, but the railroad follows it; but the latter goes ahead as a means for the former. In it there are few pleasant landscapes, but there is continuous, stubborn struggle with nature and there is the ability to conquer. America is rich in enterprise that stops before nothing, and in shrewdness that never gets stuck [2].

“In agricultural rivalry with America,” said recently the English “Times” on one occasion, “we need fear not her soil, not her climate or the extent of her lands, but the invincible energy, boundless self-confidence, and inexhaustible ingenuity of the citizens of the United States.”

If already the English—with their known stubborn persistence, slow and silent but true business sense, place such great weight in agricultural rivalry on the superiority of moral character of the Americans; what then remains for us Russians, with our apathy and lassitude, our bravery in words and cowardice in deeds, with our lack of healthy initiative and the dominion of traditional oppression? It remains, of course, not to lose heart, but to learn from our friends and to be inspired by their example.