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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1913)
mmmmmm . "i i j jw m liWii Dhe Omaha Sunday Bee Magazine Page rf a pfe i mm Tfa I m Pa .0U SMI ! 'a CflCW nff I 111 fl If Miles for Food Raising Made Available by Agriculture's Tardy Recognition of Mechanical Progress. rhaa been said that there is noth ing eo backward as farming; that whllo every othor occupa tion, has taken advantage of the great modern advance in mechan ical invention the average farmer etill depends largely upon his own muscles and thoso of his farm ani mals much as his predecessors did In the days of tho Pharaohs. Examiners into the causes for the rapid continuous rlso in the cost of living have found one factor in this backwardness of the farmer. Prices are regulated by tho law of supply and demand, and it is obvious that it the production of tho farms does not keep up with the constantly in creasing population of tho earth food will keep growing scarcer and prices -will soar accordingly. Besides that the drudgery of the farm, which could be so lightened by machinery, drives away the sons of tho farmer Into tho cities and prevents him from getting even adequate man power. The Year Book of the Department of Agriculture points out this situa tion of affairs, but at the same tlmo it calls attention to an awakonlng of tho farmer to tho necessity of the machine-made farm. In certain parts of tho country such an awak ening seems to be already woll ad vanced, and the steam engine, the electrlo motor, tho gasoline engine, but particularly the oil-burning en gine, are doing tho work of opening up countless moro acres to cultiva tion. Of the crushing burdens of farm ing, that 6f plowing is tho greatest. To turn a single aero of land with a twelve-Inch plow it is necessary that the farmer and his team travel eight end one-fourth miles. The wheat acreage of the United States aver ages 46,600,000 acres annually. It this were all plowed each year with ordinary plows tho plowmen of America would havo to travel a total of 888,025,000 miles. If we add eo this the hundreds of millions of acres of land that must be plowed an nually for. tho country's crops of or preferred breads. trrtXl Packers' Convention, re- cently held in Chicago, warns ' of a beef famine. In Europe, where a similar crisis has Impended for years, there are countries which meet the situation by sanctioning thu slaughter of animals against whose consumption there is in America a sentimental prejudice. Abroad, this attitude has been so modified by necessity, experiment and acquired babjt that, annually, thousands ot horses, mules and goats are sold to municipal abattoirs, which slaughter the animals and send them out to licensed shop? patronized by all classes. France, land of gourmets, has an association which gives banquets to exploit tbe savorlnes3 and healthful ness of tbe .flesh ot the horse, ot the mule, and even of the ass, the famed roast of the Romans. Partly as a result of this propaganda the demand for these viands is now so great that consumers nro disturbed over tbe pos sibility of underproduction, which is ulready threatened. Eight hundred shops in France sell only cbevaline (horse meat) cuts. In Paris alone there are butchered every year over 60,000 horsea, and many donkeys and mules, in comparison to 800,000 bead of beef. Germany con sumes nearly 150,000 horses annually and 500,000 goats, compared with the consumption ot 3,500,000 adult cattle, 16,000,000 porkers and 2,000,000 sheep. y Mow The? Get C lapr M ea Paris mm it 1 corn, oats, barloy, rye, buckwheat, cotton, tobacco, potatoes and othor products, the number of miles of weary plodding necessary that' the people of our country may havo their wants satisfied runs up to an inconceivable total. Tho first farm task to which me chanical power was genorally ap plied throughout the country was threshing grain. Most persons fa miliar with country llfo who have reached middle age can remember when wheat, oats, barley and other small grains were threshed by horse power with old-fashioned "chaff piling" threshing machines, Then the farmer and his sons or hired hands spont days or weeks winnow ing the grain with a fanning mill turned by hand. This laborious and inefficient mothod of threshing and winnowing grain haB now been ren dered practically obsolete In Amer ica by numberless steam threshing "outfits" that traverse the country roads throughout tho land after har vest, stopping at the farms along tholr routes and doing the work at a stated sum per bushel. Thresh ing and cleaning the grain are now done in a fraction of the time for merly required and at much less cost. The next Innovation In the way of power-driven machinery for the per formance of farm labors to come into general use was tho hay and straw baler, followed quickly by ma chines for shelling corn and shred ding fodder. These machines, like the threshers, nro taken through tho country by traction engines, and perform their several taBks much moro quickly, efficiently and eco nomically than they could be per formd by hores. Then, ten years or so ago, an epoch in Western development waa marked by the introduction of the steam plow upon the great farms and ranches of the West. However, coal is heavy and cumbersome and la many regions water Is scarce and precious. So the application of the gasoline engine to farm purposes was hailed as a triumph of Inventive Berlla the brain ef Lower Kid and 9 at are commonly found on Spanish and Portu guese tables. Horse sausages are openly sold as such from England to Algeria, thou sands of cases being exported from packing houses adjacent to the Paris slaughter house for horses. la Spam a council of scientists and byglenista Is pursuing a systematized effort to Introduce hippophagy the consump tion of horse meat for the revivify ing bf a decadent people. The Public Charities of the French capital dispense dally 1.000 pounds of horse flesh in the free hospitals and asylums. Ita lower cost has made It accessible to the sick poor, who accredit it with tonlo properties superior to those ot any other meat. Certain pharmaceutical establish ments employ the products of the horse In the compiling of tonics, hemogloblnes, peptones, extracts of meat nnd meat powders which are in demand in both Europe and the United States. Scarcely a baker or delicatessen shop in Paris or Berlin but prefers tbe brains of the horse to sweet breads in concocting meat pasties, and tbe delicacies known to tourists from abroad as well as to native patrons as vol au vent and timbalei financlercs. The decanted fat of the horse Is rendered into an oil which In certain famous restaurants goes Into the making of a highly regarded mayonnaise. But the fat is chiefly used in frying the crisp and suc culent potato in hotel and restaurant kitchen? and at the hundreds ot street stands which adventurous travellers sometimes patronize in and about Paris. norse tripe, cut In strips, consti tutes the "andoullles," which, rolled and breaded, are daintily displayed on parsley-trimmed platters in many a charcuterie window. Mixed with beet or pork, or util ized alone, horse meat Is said to make excellent sausage. Tbe trade speaks of a thin horse destined for this end as "a sausage." No prejudice exists against these viands, which sell in the most pretentious shops of Bel- 1 New Thousands of Sauare gonlus. Bnt tho great objection to, the gasoline engine on tho farm is that gasoline is an expensive fuel. So the American inventor perfected the oil-burning ongine. Oil Is the cheapest and most perfect of all fuels. Tho latest tvrm of nll-hiirnlnirk' engine is as efficient as tho gasollnofft ftnelnn nnd pan hn nnnrntiwl tntiMi K' more economically. It now scorns reasonable to nre- diet that tho oil-burning cnglno will' work as great a revolution In Amer-i lean agriculture as -was worked hypp uio auiuuiuuc uarTBBlor. One writer has stated the situa tion mus: -wiui norses, every plow needs a man, but with a good cngino two men can operato eigh teen plows and hold controlled in their hands the power of eighty horses that novor tire." On some of the larger ranches the power plowing machine Is run night and day, with only a ohango of men. At night a hoadlight, like that of a locomotlvo shows tho way. Some times tho numbor of plows is re duced and grain drills and harrows aro attached behind the plows. The land is thus plowed, seeded and har rowed with one passing of tho on gine. Then, whon the grain is ripe, the same engine may be hitched be hind from threo to six combined har vesters. The engine threshes and winnows the grain and is sometimes used for hauling It to market, easily drawing from seven to ten heavily loaded farm wagons. If agriculture Is to score the samo progress that has been made in almost every other line of human endeavor and if tho rise In the cost of tho necessities of lite 1b to be checked, power farming of this description must become the rule instead of the very rare excep tion. The only valid objection to the general use of mochanical power on the farms is on tho ground of the cost of suitable traction engines. Some of the steam traction engines now used for plowing on the great plains region cost 2,600 each. They are similar in construction to freight locomotives and will climb steep "Chevaline" (Horse Meat) Approved by Physicians, Preferred as Sweeter and More Tender by Those Who Have Eaten It and Could Be Sold in America Much Than Beef glum and France as "tauclstet d'Arlet" or "Lorratne." ' Periods of elege and hardship first taught the use ot tho horse as food. During the wars ot the French Ropub lio and Empire, and during tho Prussian occupation of Paris In 1870, tho soldiers knew of no other meat. When tho na tion was at peace tho demand for it' continued because its consumers had learned that, while it cost less than beef, it was moro salutary, more strengthening, more tender, and, so say Its devotees, mora palatable. Physicians called attention to the" herbivorous habits of the horse, and to tho fact that, in distinction to many other animals eaten with relish. the horse is fastidious as to forage and drinking water. The constitution of the muscles Is absolutely similar to that of other beasts. Statistics demonstrate that but one horse In 10,000 has tuberculosis, and that even the raw meat transmits no dis ease to man. In 1865 the first horse meat shop was licensed in Paris, and the first police ordinance was framed relative to the new industry. Then other stalls were opened throughout tbe city with the stipulation that they sell horse products only and an nounce their specialty by a charac teristic elgn. At the abattoir then, as now, care ful inspection was the rule, no horse being accepted which had not been killed under the eye of the appointed authorities, or which was afflicted by Copyright, 1111, hills with ease. Nona but the own ers of great ranches of thousands ot acres are Justified in putting bo largo a sum ot money in a traction engine, even though, unlike the horso, it "eats only when it works." But this objoctioa Is being over come in tho West by men who havo bought power plowing "outfits" and who travel from farm to farm plow ing on contract at a etated eum per acre. Then, too, much the same sort ot an evolution that has taken place in the automobile trade is In progress iu the manufacture ot powor farm ing machinery. Lighter and cheaper engines, that are still capable of performing the work on an ordinary farm with ease and efficiency, are being manufactured. Mechanical power is employed la the West and Southwest to a great er extent for farming purposes than in any other part ot the country, for several years a large ranch In Montana has dispensed with horses entirely, employing power-driven machinery for all purposes for which horses aro usually considered neces sary. It is truly a. "horseless farm." a.i ttB AbTtlS!K A7,t,H? Th,r Jarn to Bo Slaughtered for Meat. Each u iff!: VrL neit- RIl3T Inspected by Government Officials to Make Sure That It Is Free from Disease and That It Is Not Too Emaciated to Make Satisfactory Food. any disease whatsoever, even of the hoof. Emaciated animals were also rejected. The time came when this meat of the poor and distressed grew in favor with the more fortunate. Horses were scientifically fed and selected with a resulting Improvement in quality. To-day in many European cities meat superior to that which was formerly acceptable is sold at a price which is fast approaching that of the best beef. The retail price of first cuta is about the same as second cuts of beef, or twenty to twenty-tour cents a pound. Consumers ot hone meat aro peculiarly loyal, boasting its depend able tenderness, no matter what the age, and disdaining the tough and tasteless beef which finds its way to city market. Tbe price paid for an average by the Star Company. Oreat Britain lieESigilJfflM Oil-Burning Plow Oneraune 24 Blades and Digging 24 Fur rows 16 Feet Wide and 7 Inches Deep, at a Timet. There are now 25,000,000 farm vated land In America to devoted to horses In America. These consume the upkeep of farm horses If mn. 12.600,000,000 ot the farmers' feed chanlcat pover caa displace eSly and labor. One-fifth of all tho cultl- fcnfcaU of these ho7ses it will mTka horse ii f 60, and for a mule H0. In choosing tho animals mares and geld ings aro given tho preference, tho flesh of stallions being considered more fibrous; white nnd gray horses are not liked so well as those with a colored coat The horse renders a higher proportion of meat than the cow, bull or ox. In tho street market of Menll montant, which extends for half a mile through one of tho outer boule vards of Paris, the poor workingmen lay down their "little sous" for the "blftek" and soup meat furnished by man's helpmate. In the huge cen tral markets of Paris, of Berlin, of Brussels, Vienna and Madrid there are stalls devoted exclusively to the sale ot chevaline delicacies. The same cities and many smaller towns support hundreds of shops, usually distinguished by a horse's head, which vaunt a large and respectable, RighU RMrv6. if in Europe V On of the 800 Shops Licensed by the French Government Where Nothing but Horse Meat Is Sold. even a fastidious clientele a clientele which counts the consumption of horse and mule no more shocking than the eating of the plaintive lamb, the mild-eyed calf, tbe noisome pig and the cow with tubercular ten dendes. Tbe prejudice against horso beat Combination Engine Driven Plow and Pnrrow. The Plow Blades Each Dig Furrows 14 Inches Deep and the Har row Immediately Passes Over the Plowed Area. Two Separate Farming Opera tions Are Thus Combined in One. tans of minions of acres ot land sows used for the upkeep ot horses avail able for the production ot foodstuffs. In 1888 Sir William Orookos, pres ident of the British Association for the Advancement ot Sclenco, com piled statistics that appeared to prove that widespread famine was imminent. At that time tho world's wheat acreage was about 163,000,00 acres aad the annual production amounted to about 2,070,000,009 bushels. He asserted that th world's wheat acreage could not be materially increased and that in thirty years the world's require ments would call for 3,260,000,000 bushels of wheat annually. To pro duce this quantity of wheat from the aero go available would call tor the addition to the sell ot 12,000,060 tons ot nitrate annually. He be lloved that this quantity of nitrate could not possibly bo obtained, hence the conclusion was inevitable that widespread f amino was certain in tho not distant futuro for tho human race. Only fifteen years have passed since tho British scientist made pub lic his dismal forebodings. Yet the world's wheat acreage has already increased to something like 235,000, GOO acres aad the annual production to about 8,109,000,004 bushels.. The nitrate beds ot Child are still far from exhaustion and a practicable method of extracting nitrogen from the atmosphere has been perfected and is used on a commercial scale. The problem of the world's food sup ply for centuries to come Involves no auestlea of a scarcity of land or a shortage et fertilizer. It Is solely a problem ot the economical and eft! cleat application ot meohanlesl power. In America is purely sentimental, and there seems no good reason whyit should not be Introduced to our mar kets and our tables. The extended use of horse flr3h would Indefinitely postpone the danger of a meat famine and might do a good deal toward lowering the cost of living.