THE LIVE STOCK INDUSTRY IN MICHIGAN, 1900. 



MICHIGAN LIVE STOCK; REVIEW OF ITS PRESENT CONDI- 

 TION. 



ROBEKT GIBBONS, EDITOR MICHIGAN FARMER. 



In reviewing the present condition of the live stock interests of the 

 State, it will not be considered out of place if something is said regard- 

 ing its prime importance to the material interests of its farmers as 

 well as the future value of the farms. Improved live stock is a certain 

 indication of improved farming and enterprising farmers. No farmer 

 can long take an interest in the improvement of his stock without 

 becoming more intelligent and a better farmer. Good farming, he will 

 soon discover, is an essential to success with improved stock. To im- 

 prove live stock good feeding is just as important as good breeding. 

 This means care on the part of the farmer to produce, during the grow- 

 ing season, ample supplies of grain and forage to carry his stock through 

 the winter months, and to maintain them in good condition. 



In studying out the requirements of his stock, the proper care, feed- 

 ing and breeding, the farmer insensibly broadens out, and acquires a 

 fund of information that can only be acquired by practical contact with 

 these problems. His knowledge of business methods is also increased, 

 because he is constantly buying and selling, and his association with 

 business educates him in the minutia of business transactions. It will 

 be found in every farming community that the most enterprising and 

 intelligent are interested in the improvement of some branch of live 

 stock, either as breeders or as growlers for market purposes. 



The stock breeder as a rule is a benefactor to the community in which 

 he lives, for through his work the live stock in the neighborhood is 

 improved and rendered more valuable in every way. It is true he does 

 not always reap a fitting reward for his labors. In fact he is seldom 

 benefited financially to the extent those are who avail themselves of his 

 skill and enterprise. The general farmer usually profits more from 

 the improved herds and flocks kept in his neighborhood than do those 

 who own them. The live stock of a whole section may be improved to 

 the extent of thousands of dollars, yet the breeder who made the 

 improvement i)ossible lose money in the business. Breeders are fre- 

 quently compelled to sell their surplus at less than the net cost, and yet 

 so fascinating is the business that many remain in it year after year, 

 doing an immense amount of good, but nearly always at a loss. We 

 cannot forbear making due acknowledgement to such men for their 



