494 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Investigations of hay and other forms of dry forage have been 

 confined hirgely to improved methods of making hay, special atten- 

 tion having been given to methods which decrease man-labor require- 

 ments, A number of bulletins have been published dealing with 

 improved methods of handling hay, especially in the South ancl East. 



Need for greater attention to pastures is more and more apparent. 

 Although funds have not been available for making a careful study 

 of this problem, attention has been directed to the importance of 

 pastures and the place that they should occupy on live-stock farms. 



LIVE-STOCK ECONOMICS. 



The farm-practice studies with reference to the management of 

 live-stock farms, particularly in the corn-belt States and in the north 

 Atlantic districts, have been continued with valuable results. 

 Special attention has been given to the requirements in the way of 

 feeds and labor, as worked out by experienced live-stock men in each 

 of these districts. There is an increasing demand for information 

 of this nature, and the farm-management studies which have been 

 conducted along this line have been a very fruitful source of data 

 on this subject. 



Records covering a five-year period on a number of beef-cattle 

 farms in the Central States give a very accurate index of the needs 

 of this industry in the way of equipment, feed and labor; also give 

 indication of the returns that can be expected in raising and in fat- 

 tening beef cattle and in the production of baby beef on corn-belt 

 farms. Attention • has been directed to those factors which make 

 the production of feeder cattle a profitable enterprise in the Middle 

 West, a problem especially important in view of the decreasing sup- 

 ply of feeder cattle from the ranges and mountain regions. 



Extensive studies have also been made in the practices found on 

 farms where fattening sheep is an important enterprise. Another 

 important problem has been in connection with determining the 

 place which sheep should occupy on the small farms in the East and 

 North Atlantic States. A bulletin has been published dealing with 

 the possibilities of a revival of the sheep industry in New England. 



With present prices, the question of farm equipment and power is 

 of increasing importance, especially in view of the quite general 

 substitution of tractors for horses, and the gain that thus may be 

 effected through the products from land formerly required for the 

 support of work stock. Data have been published giving the hours 

 of labor performed by work horses as found on a number of farms 

 in different parts of the country, and the feed requirements and 

 labor necessary in providing for their maintenance. Such informa- 

 tion has been exceedingly valuable in planning efficient systems of 

 farm organization. 



FARM-EQUIPMENT INVESTIGATIONS. 



Under the stress of war-time conditions a more intensive utiliza- 

 tion of all kinds of farm equipment has become necessary. The 

 difficulties in securing labor and the increased cost of motive power 

 make it desirable to use those machines which will effect the greatest 

 saving in time and expense. Farm-management investigation of the 

 economics of various kinds of machines, their cost and practicability, 

 has been especially useful at this time. 



