1918.] FUTURE OF TIIK XFW FXCLAXD LIVF STOCK INDUSTRY. 51 



THE FUTrRE OI- THE NEW I-:.\'(U.AX1) 1J\E STOCK 



ixnrsTin'. 



l;y S. i;. Haskell, I'.altiiiiore, Md. 



The great a_L;ricullural ])n»l)lein in Xew Eng'laiul is that of 

 the hill farms — the farms that are rem<»\cd ivoui immediate 

 access to the city market ar.d which liave land with possibili- 

 ties, land now too often and too Icjng in grass, but land which 

 ought to be doing more in the great work of food production. 

 ]t is on these farms that live stock — more and better li\e 

 stock, gi\es us the solution to our great agricultural prob- 

 lem. 



Un a large scale there can be no other solution, for a part 

 of our cleared land, classified indeed as improved land, is so 

 tipped up on edge that it washes badly with but the slightest 

 of provocation. For conservation's sake such land should 

 l)e left in grass, for either hay or pasture. Then we have 

 other areas where stones of all sizes absolutely grow from 

 year to year, and come to the surface with every plowing. 

 Once such lands are seeded down they ought to stay in grass, 

 and for a period of years. Absolutely, we must have stock in 

 order to make these lands produce foods, and hence our prob- 

 lem is to develop a profitable stock industry. Especially is 

 this true of those sections where extension of orchard areas, 

 or of the potato growing industry, or of market gardening 

 offers no hope for the future. 



Why Our Live Stock Industry Has Failed. 



There is nothing new in what I have just said. These 

 facts have been known for years and years, and have been 

 presented to you time and again. Despite this, we have to 

 face certain facts. One of these is that during the last 

 quarter of a century sheep have well nigh disappeared from 

 our hill sides. During the same period dairy cows have di- 

 minished in numbers, and our butter and cheese industries 

 have been lost. The hog has held its own in numbers, but 

 has not kept pace with the increase in population. The beef 

 steer has been forgotten. 



Notwithstanding this, for the past twenty-five years, or 

 even longer, through the medium of our agricultural press, 

 ■our farm paper service, and more lately through the in- 



