84 The Bulletin. 



CATTLE. 



The prices of cattle and their products should cause us to investigate the 

 possibilities of our being able to produce such at a profit. With this class of 

 animal is largely sought the indirect profit in furnishing a home market for a 

 large share of the crops and then leaving something like three-fourths of the 

 crop's fertilizer value on the farm. 



Dairying is especially attractive from the financial standpoint, but has the 

 disadvantage of being perhaps the most confining line of live stock farming of all. 

 With this industry, even if we are using the grading-up process, it will pay up 

 well to carefully select the females as well as the sire. Many a so-called dairy 

 cow is costing more for her keep than she is paying. 



Perhaps the most difficult line of livestock raising from a financial standpoint 

 is that of raising beef animals, and yet men in the South have made money in 

 such an undertaking by giving it thought and attention. Like most lines of 

 business, it requires intelligent management to succeed. The conditions in some 

 sections and on some farms are very much more suitable for beef production than 

 on others, such as natural pastures or easily obtained ones on lands of little value 

 for other purposes. 



SHEEP. 



More sheep should be raised in the South because of the character of a large 

 part of the feed they consume often being of little value otherwise, and because 

 of the economical use they make of their feed. In this last respect, it requires 

 on an average only about three-fourths as much food to produce a pound of gain a? 

 it does with cattle. The pound of mutton is usually as high, or higher, in price 

 than that of beef. The greatest hindrance to sheep raising in the South is that of 

 internal parasites, vyhich can be controlled to a large extent by frequent changing 

 of pastures. If flock becomes badly infested, then it will be necessary to raise a 

 new flock free from infection by isolating lambs from mothers except when nursing, 

 in barren dry lot, and keeping on pastures having had no sheep on them for several 

 years previous. 



HOGS. 



Hogs are likewise very economical feeders, even more so than sheep, on an 

 average requiring one-half as much feed to produce a pound of gain as in cattle. 

 As a money maker the hog perhaps heads the list for the average person with a 

 comparatively small outlay. 



Hog cholera used to be a serious menace to hog raising, but with the use of 

 hog cholera serum its ravages may be reduced to a minimum. 



NEIGHBORHOOD LIVE STOCK CLUBS. 



Perhaps the most serious obstacle to the grading up of live stock is in the 

 securing of enough females to engage a reasonable amount of service of a pure- 

 bred sire when there are so many cheap scrub sires about. This is a factor of no 

 little importance, for many an individual has attempted to do a favor to his 

 neighborhood by bringing in a good pure-bred sire, expecting his neighbors to 

 patronize him. However, in having to charge a somewhat greater service fee 

 than his scrub competitor, he failed to do the good in not securing the patronage. 

 This difficulty is largely to be overcome by co-operation through the organization 

 of neighborhood ''live stock clubs." These clubs, in addition to county and State 

 associations, can do a great deal for the live stock interests. The Farmers' 

 Union should be an instrumental agent in assisting in the formation of such clubs. 

 The club should be made up of a sufficient number of members to represent the 

 ownership of the greater part of the required number of females for at least one 

 sire. Shares of stock shoiild be taken by the memters either in proportion to the 

 number of females each owns, or according to the wishes of each with others 

 agreeing, charging a stipulated service fee and receiving in return dividends in 

 proportion to stock held. We should mention, perhaps, that company aff'airs do 

 not always work smoothly, largely because of some misunderstanding or wilful 



