BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTEY. 141 



EXPERIMENTS AND DEMONSTRATIONS IN LIVE-STOCK PRODUCTION 

 IN THE CANE-SUGAR AND COTTON DISTRICTS. 



A miscellaneous item in the appropriation bill for the fiscal year 

 ended June 30, 1915, provided $60,000 for experiments and demon- 

 strations in live-stock production in the cane-sugar and cotton dis- 

 tricts of the United States. To administer this fund the Secretary 

 appointed the following-named committee: W. A. Taylor, Chief of 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, chairman; B. H. Rawl, Chief of Dairy 

 Division, Bureau of Animal Industry; W. R. Dodson, director, 

 Louisiana Experiment Station, and director of extension service, 

 Louisiana State University. 



After an investigation of conditions in the cane sugar and adjoin- 

 ing districts, it was planned to devote a part of this fund to live- 

 stock demonstrations and the remainder to a live-stock experiment 

 farm, to be used in testing out on a commercial scale the various 

 methods of live-stock production and management applicable to the 

 conditions of that region. 



The live-stock extension work has been organized under the direct 

 supervision of Director W. R. Dodson, so that it could be articulated 

 with the other extension and demonstration work of the State. Dr. 

 G. E. Nesom was selected to take charge of the work, with a sec- 

 retary, and with field specialists in beef cattle, dairy cattle, poultry, 

 swine, and forage crops; and a market specialist was recently (Aug. 

 8, 1915) added to the force. At first institutes and short courses 

 were conducted to familiarize the specialists with Louisiana condi- 

 tions, then demonstration w^ork was begun in cooperation with the 

 county agents. At the end of the year the following demonstrations 

 were being conducted: Thirty with farm poultry and 4 in com- 

 mercial poultry plants, in 13 parishes ; 31 with hogs, in 10 parishes ; 

 and 22 with beef cattle, in 13 parishes. The dairy specialist assisted 

 in building 8 new dairy barns, 6 dairy houses, 13 concrete and 23 

 stave silos, and helped remodel a number of dairy barns and houses. 

 A number of dairymen have begun record work. At the State fair 

 demonstrations of milk testing, buttermaking, etc., were given. A 

 creamery was established at the university to utilize the cream of the 

 dairymen in that vicinity. The forage crop expert has introduced 

 proper cropping systems on the farms where the various cattle, hog, 

 and poultry demonstrations are made. As soon as the demonstra- 

 tions begin to produce visible results the residents of the community 

 will be invited to informal meetings to observe what is being 

 accomplished. 



A farm of 500 acres at New Iberia, La., has been deeded to the 

 United States Department of Agriculture by the State of Louisiana, 

 and has been divided into four small farms for work with horses 

 and mules, beef cattle, dairy cattle and hogs, and hogs alone. The 

 plan is to determine here the amount of work a brood mare, suitable 

 to produce large mules, can do compared with a mule ; the amount of 

 feed she will consume compared with a mule; and whether high- 

 class mules can be produced in that region, and at what cost; the 

 cost of producing a steer, using grass as much as possible and winter- 

 ing on the various kinds of silage; the possibilities of finishing steers 

 in that region, using the various lands of cheap roughage available, 



