The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, January 7, 1918, Page 14

== S tors, the -horse breeders. of o o whit discouraged by the N growing popularity of trac- y the United States have sent “out.an gppeal to all who have horses suitable for breeding to save them for this purpose in order to meet the horse shortage of the world after the war. Their appeal is receiving the direct support of the war depart- ment, and in the effort to organize horse breeding on an efficient basis the “Red Star Animal Relief” has been launched. This is a “Red Cross” society for horses. Some interesting facts along this line were brought out in the meet- ings of horse breeders held during the International live stock show in Chicago a few weeks ago. ‘“Save the horse and breed” was the slogan adopted by several of the big national horse breeding associations. At banquets and association meetings many pbhases of the horse shortage were discussed. SEE GREAT OPPORTUNITY AFTER THE WAR ENDS These specialists.viewed the steady drain of horse supplies in Britain, France, Italy and Germany and the exportations from Scandinavia due to the war, together with the vast losses of animals on the western front and formed the’ opinion that Europe will experience great scarcity . of horses after the war. They further believed that any surplus in America before the war was rapidly dwind- ling, and that as America was now the chief source of supply for all the WORLD’'S WHEAT PROSPECTS Important figures on the world’s ~wheat crop for 1917 gathered by the United” States food administration show that the combined production of all countries is about 32,000,000 bushels less than last year and about - 400,000,000 bushels less than the This decrease from pre-war average. the pre-war average is more than 10 per cent. France shows the greatest decrease of ‘all countries, her 1917 crop being 54.5 per cent less than her average crop before the war. :The total- world crop of wheat is “estimated -at' 3,347,924,000 - bushels of ‘which the United States produced 669,797,000 bushels, the greatest amount of ‘any nation. cipal wheat countries arranged ac- cording to size of crop are Russia (in Europe), India,’ Canada, Argentina, and Australia. About two-thirds of the wheat crops for 1917 was grown in countries open to world commerce. ¢ THE COLORADO FIGHT The decision of the ‘supreme court e affirming the constitutionality of the law requiring the state school funds to 7 “be - loaned to farmers, and directing State Treasurer Higgins to execu.te ‘the law is a great victory for the farming sections of the state. times wearisome but in spite of every - known obstacle that intrenched avarice and legal legerdemain could conceive, the r!ght triumphed. It is a step in the right direction and will be followed by others. And by the way, has it oc- ~-curred to you that every indiyidual vho fought this measure is also in the " forefront in the fight that organized greed is making against the Farmers’ ‘- Nonpartisan ; (COLO.) INDEPENDENT. ko e league? — ILIFF Other prin-. The fight for : “thig reform ‘has been long and some- Allies the prospect ahead was one of scarcity. From many shrewd breed- ers came the advice to save all the youngsters and mares; to breed .every Zood mare during 1918, for after the wars America will be called upon to export horses in vast numbers for the restocking of Europe. The end of the war would give to the horse breeders of America an opportunity such as might never occur again. Among the speakers was Richard C. - Craven, field director of the American Red Star Animal Relief. He pointed out that while agriculture was rendering a service of the great- est patriotism in conserving the horse in the United States and in breeding for future needs, it was even more important right now to save every possible horse on the bat- tle fronts. This war called for con- tinuous supply of nearly 5,000,000 horses'and mules. An infantry regi- ment required one horse for every four men, and’ every horse that was killed must be replaced by one from America, he said. Veterinary surgery and care for animals had never in the history of world warfare reached such a high state -of efficiency as in the present war. Although the num- CATTLE THAT SHOULD BE SAVED This picture is furnished by the United States food _adminlstratlon, and shows the kind of underfed cattle now going to slaughter. Urges St__eady Flow of Livestock IVIDING the country tributary to the great livestock markets up into zones for the shipment of hogs and cattle, has proven a great success, so far as reports can be had. This was tried out several weeks ago for Kansas City, and has - lately been put into effect for the Chi- cago market. According to this plan, shippers within a radius of 300 miles ship on certain specified days of the week, and shippers farther away ship on the other days. -Bunching of re- ceipts in one or two days has ceased._ and a steadier flow of livestock has resulted. . Now, in addition to this established zone system for these two‘big markets, the meat division of the food admin- istration is asking that farmers’ ship- ping associations should co-operate in a way to make this system most effect- ive. Joseph P. Cotton, head of the meat division, has issued an appeal to farmers to do this in the interest of helping to maintain a stabilized price, and he also urges them to feed their frosted corn to livestock instead of seeking ‘to market it. _“The: eéxtent of the dama‘gé done to. the great corn crop is yet unknown,” said ‘Mr. Cotton, “but each day’s re- ports on the situation show that it will be larger than was at first thought. It will, therefore, make the market problem for soft corn an important one. In the judgment of the meat division the best way to market this corn will be in the form of meat. The world . situation ‘promises extraordinary op- portunities to hog growers, and the - food adminlstrations price policy for the’ spring-farrowed crop. of swine T. should be’'an added incentlve “The. government program for in- creased production and the saving of the soft -corn and feeding it are in harmony and every bushel of soft corn thus utilized is an aid to winning the war. “I also wish to caution farmers about over crowding the live stock markets. The object of price-stabilization can- not be obtained without co-operation on the part of the shipper. This co- operation should take the form of or- ganization so as to bring about a steady and even flow of both cattle and hogs to market. ~ At the present time, receipts are sufficient to- supply the demand for cattle and we advise feed- ing plans to be so arranged as to equal- ize receipts. Saving the soft corn for later feeding would in many instances be advisable.” LIVESTOCK IN CANADA Canadian live stock figures for 1917 show a decided increase over the previous year, ranging roughly from 4 per cent for hogs to 47 per cent for horses. Milk cows increased about 13 per cent; sheep, 17 per cent; cattle other than milk cows, 25 per cent. The number of all kinds of live stock is also greater than the pre- war average as well as greater than in 1914 when the war began. Ameri- can farmers must consider, however, that Canada’s live stock industry is much smaller than that ef the United States. The number-of milk cows; for instance, in Canada, at the pres-’ ent time is 3,202,288, which is less than one-seventh the number or the - ,'United states. g PAGE FOURTEEN “mnine months of ‘this year can:.be: put at $2,760,000, or $3, 680 000 to the whole year. : orse Breeders Fear a Shortage National Association Is Launched for the Purpose of Meeting the World _ Famine, and Restocking Europe and America After the War. " ber of horses killed in France was as high as 5000 a day, the number of sick-and wounded animals cured and returned to service was one of the wonders of the campaign. SEND MANY WOUNDED’ - 'HORSES BACK TO SERVICE This result had been brought about by the co-operation of the volunteer. organizations working with the army veterinary departments along lines similar to those of the Red Cross. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, working with the British forces in France, had built hospitals for 12,000 horses, hospitals which would compare with those erected for the wounded soldiers. The British people.volun- tarily subscribed $700,000 to pay for this work and its efficiency was such that close to 80 per cent of the ani- mals treated in hospital were cured and sent back to the front. The value of this work in money was $30,000,- 000; in fighting efficiency it repre- sented something far greater than money. The American Red Star Animal Relief would act in a similar capa- city to the American forces, main- taining supplies and stores .behkind the lines, providing ambulances and hospitals as required, and generally rendering . service- by meeting the exigencies of the campaign. . To the American forces this service would be more valuable than even to the British because the American army would be 4000 miles from Washington while the British army was only 200 miles from London. THREE RECORD-BREAKING CROPS ' That ‘American farmers have re- sponded loyally to the task of feeding i a world at war is evident from crop es- timates lately announced. The corn crop of 1917, estimated at over 3,210, 700,000 bushels, is notable as occupy- ing the largest acreage and as-being . the largest total crop ever recorded. The yield per acre was, however, not exceptional because of a late spring - and cool summer. . The potato crop estimated at 440, 000,000 bushels, is also the largest ever produced and the quality is above average. The tobacco crop is another that has broken all previous records, a fact noteworthy because of the heavy de- mands for tobacco by the millions of men under arms. CATTLE WANTONLY WASTED Food animals valued at $20,000, were killed on the tracks of the Cen- tral of Georgia Railway _during the first nine months of this year. Ac- cording to a statement of -the vice president and general manageér of that road, 1,862 head of stock were. needlessly. wasted in this manner, the average value of which was approxi- mately~$10. to $11 per head. Fine dairy cows and beef cattle were in-: cluded, as well as hogs, sheep, geese, i ete. .- During those nine months one animal was killed for every mile of = - track on the Central of Georgid, and if that figure can be accepted as-a: basis for estimating the loss for the. - entire country, the ‘destruction of food animals on the railway tracks of the United States during the first v i 1 L : % 4 3 < \;%