BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTEY. 149 



to secure more efficient distribution of irrigation water. Improved 

 methods of preparing land for irrigation and planting have been 

 encouraged and have been adopted by a large number of settlers. 



DAIRYING. 



During the fiscal year 1918 demonstration work in dairying has 

 been conducted on the Truckee-Carson, Huntley, Minidoka, Tieton, 

 Shoshone, Boise, North Platte, Uncompahgre, and Belle Fourche 

 projects. In this work the settlers have been assisted in securing 

 stock, improving local dairy herds through breeding and cow testing, 

 controlling diseases, planning and constructing barns and silos, and 

 in improving their methods of feeding and marketing. A large vol- 

 ume of systematic cow-testing work is carried on. A number of bull 

 clubs were organized, and much useful work was done in the local 

 manufacture of dairy products. Owing largely to the efficient work 

 which has been done with reference to the control of diseases affecting 

 dairy cattle and to the resulting better understanding of these dis- 

 eases by the settlers, the losses from contagious abortion and other 

 ailments affecting dairy stock have been materially reduced. The 

 w^ork of encouraging the construction and use of silos made very sat- 

 isfactory progress during the year, and a very large number of silos 

 were built. Speaking generally, the dairy industry on the reclama- 

 tion projects experienced marked improvement during the year. 

 There was a decided tendency to reduce the size of herd, largely 

 because of the difficulties of securing satisfactory dairy labor; but, 

 on the other hand, a large number of farmers for the first time began 

 to conduct dairy enterprises on a small scale, and owing largely to 

 the increased prices for feeds there was a very marked increase in 

 the appreciation of the necessity for using improved high-producing 

 cows. 



THE SWINE INDUSTRY. 



Work in connection with the establishment of the swine industry 

 is in progress on the North Platte, Truckee-Carson, Huntley, Mini- 

 doka, Tieton, Shoshone, Boise, Uncompahgre, and Belle P^ourche 

 projects. The settlers on these projects have been aided in solving 

 problems of breeding, feeding, housing, and marketing their hogs 

 and in the control of diseases affecting swine. The unusually high 

 prices for feed and for pork resulted in a marked reduction in swine 

 populations on most of the projects. This change consisted chiefly 

 in a reduction in the size of herd, and this, in turn, resulted in a 

 better utilization of waste materials and more economical pork pro- 

 duction. Interest in high-class breeding stock increased materially, 

 and there were marked improvements in housing facilities and 

 methods of management. Chiefly because of the efficient educational 

 work which is being done with reference to the control of diseases, 

 losses from this cause were extremely small. The settlers are coming 

 to a better understanding of the quarantine and sanitary require- 

 ments in the control of swine diseases and are acting more promptly 

 than heretofore in this connection. As the result of the high prices 

 and scarcity of the grains ordinarily used to supplement alfalfa in 

 swine feeding and to finish hogs for market, special attention was 

 paid during the year to the production and utilization of field peas 

 in swine production. A number of cooperative tests were conducted 



