1917] EDITOEIAL. 3 



a variety of products, especially when there is added the residues 

 from oil extraction, the value, utilization and effect of which prod- 

 ucts have not been well known. The stations in the South have 

 anticipated the need for such information, and during the past year 

 especially have made many field and feeding experiments of various 

 kinds. 



It was found, for example, that peanuts and soy beans make a soft 

 pork and lard, and that hogs fed extensively on these products are 

 of less value to the packinghouses. Numerous experiments show the 

 extent to which these materials may be fed, the amount of other 

 feeds necessary to harden the pork, and the period over which they 

 must be fed to accomplish this. Already probably sufficient data are 

 on hand to answer many of these leading questions if they could be 

 brought together and digested. 



The increase of pork production is advised as an important means 

 of maintaining meat supply. Successions of forage crops for pas- 

 turing hogs throughout the year have been worked upon at several 

 of the stations, which give relatively cheap products. "Waste prod- 

 ucts, especially those on farms, will need to be utilized to a larger 

 extent to piece out and economize the feed supply. This has been 

 a subject of much experimentation, in all parts of the country. The 

 ordinary materials include such as corn stalks, cotton stalks, straw, 

 waste hay, and aftergrowth in cultivated fields. The wintering in 

 good condition, at one station, of a lot of fifty-eight steers on the hay 

 cut from a corn stalk field containing pea vines, Johnson grass, crab 

 grass, etc., which grew up after the com had been pulled, emphasizes 

 the possibility of utilizing to advantage roughage which would 

 otherwise be practically wasted. Experiments with steers and with 

 sheep on dry-land feeds show how far these materials may be relied 

 upon, and in the case of sheep demonstrate the advantage to farmers 

 of having a sufficient number to eat up the roughage and waste 

 instead of keeping them all on the range. 



No less than ten different stations have lately been working on 

 various aspects of the conservation, handling, and most efficient use 

 of barnyard manure — a subject of prime importance at a time when 

 there is a shortage of fertilizers and difficulty in securing potash. 

 That so many stations still regard the subject as a fruitful one for 

 study is strong indication of the possibilities for constructive work 

 outside the field of propaganda and demonstration. Indeed, there is 

 not yet full agreement on the theory of the beneficial action of this 

 material, or how it may be further extended. 



Increase of the acre-yield of wheat is one of the direct ways of 

 increasing the volume of production. The means for this have been 

 the subject of continued study and experiment the country over, the 

 larger application of which has awaited just such conditions as the 



