Live Stock Breeders' Association. 239 



of every man interested in the breeding and handling of improved 

 livestock. 



But the main reason for raising animals on our farms is that 

 it is a more profitable method of husbandry than selling grain. 

 Laying aside all other considerations it is more profitable to feed 

 the products of our farms to animals than to sell on the open 

 market, and with the improvement of our animals there is no rea- 

 son why the rearing of live stock should not become increasing 

 profitable. 



But we must also remember, in considering the production of 

 animals on the modern farm that a large amount of the material 

 grown on the farm consists of cheap and bulky feed which cannot 

 be readily transported to distant markets, but is available for the 

 rearing and feeding of animals, and the animal thus becomes the 

 condensing machine by which we are enabled to profitably utilize 

 large amounts of otherwise cheap by-products. What, for example, 

 would be the gross value of the increased numbers of animals which 

 might be produced in Missouri alone from the corn stover which 

 is annually wasted on the thousands of acres ? 



The modern farm must be as much as possible self-sustaining. 

 On the small farm the greatest profit is to be derived from improved 

 conditions of living. Wholesome food the farm must supply, and 

 beef, pork, mutton, milk, butter, poultry and eggs may and should 

 be produced in abundance on every farm. The value of these 

 products in the State of Missouri it is impossible to accurately 

 estimate. 



Another ever present condition in modern farm practice which 

 determines our systems of management is the difficulty of securing 

 farm labor. Men have found it possible to cultivate much larger 

 areas if we make large use of domestic animals. One man can 

 administer a much larger farm if this farm is managed exclusively 

 as a stock farm. This is by no means an unimportant advantage, 

 and it is not too much to say that this fact has kept many a man 

 on the ancestral acres who might otherwise have been compelled to 

 rent or sell portions of the farm area. 



The rearing and skillful handling of animals requires higher 

 skill and more intelligence and thrift than other methods of farm- 

 ing. This is an advantage from a cultural standpoint. The care- 

 ful and systematic labor conducted at the right time and in the 

 right way is imperative in successful livestock farming. Much of 

 this labor is worse than useless, unless it is directed by an exact 

 knowledge of what to do and how to do it. 



