BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 75 



CATTLE BREEDING. 



At each of the cooperative experiment stations the breeding herds 

 were maintained and the work carried on the same as in the pre- 

 ceding year. 



The cooperative Shorthorn cattle breeding work at the Kansas 

 Agricultural College was carried on as previously planned by the 

 Bureau of Animal Industry and the Kansas Agricultural College, as 

 outlined in last year's report. 



SWINE INVESTIGATIONS. 



The work in pork production at the Beltsville farm deals mainly 

 with feeding swine, though enough attention is given to breeding 

 to obtain the best animals possible under a system of grade breeding 

 for use in the feeding tests. 



Experiments in cooperation with the Bureaus of Chemistry and 

 Plant Industry to study the value of dried pressed potato and 

 potato silage as a feed for pigs have been completed and a paper 

 reporting this work has been submitted for publication. Experi- 

 ments are in progress to determine the relative value of certain 

 forage crops for growing pigs. The economy of the self-feeder in 

 the dry lot and on pastures is being studied. The experiments to 

 determine the effects of cottonseed meal when fed to pigs have been 

 discontinued for the present. 



An experiment to determine the value of a mineral mixture as a 

 preventive against worms when fed to pigs was conducted in coopera- 

 tion with the Zoological Division. Results will show no positive evi- 

 dence that a mixture will prevent worm infestation. 



With the idea that there is an opportunity for better utilization 

 of city garbage by feeding it to hogs, thus giving back to the city 

 a supply of food in the form of pork and at the same time giving 

 to the cities a more economical and efficient method of garbage dis- 

 posal, as well as opening to interested persons a source of reliable 

 information on how to proceed in the development and maintenance 

 of this business, the division began the study of this problem. A 

 representative made an inspection trip throughout the New England 

 and Middle Atlantic States to study the feeding of garbage to hogs. 

 A paper embodying the' latest information on the subject, based 

 largely on the observations of the division's representative in the 

 field, has been prepared and submitted for publication. 



SHEEP AND GOAT INVESTIGATIONS. 



A summary of nine years' records in range sheep breeding investi- 

 gation shows the following results: Non-lambing 2-year-old ewes are 

 subsequently just as dependable as breeders as those that produce 

 lambs the first time bred. Grade Rambouillet range ewes produce 

 the greatest grease weights of wool at 4 years of age, and the lamb 

 yield increases slightly from 3 to 6 years of age. Ewes having heavy 

 skin folds over the body yield larger weights of grease wool of less 

 length than plain-bodjed ewes, though the actual weight of clean 

 wool is not known to be greater. Fleeces of 56's and 58's quality 

 from grade Rambouillet ewes show greater length than those of finer 

 quality. The lambs from imported Corriedale rams and ewes appear 

 equally as hardy under Wyoming conditions as native stock, and 



