214 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Another element of profit with sheep is the increased fertility which 

 they give to the soil. No other stock equals them in this respect. In- 

 creased fertility means better crops. 



While good sheep with good management are profitable on our best 

 lands in Iowa, sheep with light fleeces or with poor mutton qualities will 

 not pay anywhere, any more than the breeding, keeping and fattening of 

 inferior scrub cattle, or keeping a dairy of twenty cows that produce no 

 more butter and cheese than ten good cows well fed and well managed. 

 Yet there are many such inferior flocks of sheep, many such poor herds 

 of cattle and such dairies in Iowa. Nothing short of the use of better 

 sires and better care and management will ever save such stockmen 

 from poverty. If they don't reform they must sell out or be sold out and 

 go out of Iowa hunting for cheaper lands, where they think it will pay 

 to keep stock. They will find cheaper lands and poorer lands, but they 

 will never succeed until they mend their ways. 



I think the average weight of Iowa fleeces does not exceed six and 

 one-half pounds. A single cross of native and medium and coarse wool 

 ewes with a good Delaine ram will add two or three pounds to the weight 

 of fleece, and greatly improve its quality and also improve the shape, con- 

 stitution and fattening qualities. Great improvement in the carcass can 

 also be made by the use of pure bred rams of the English breeds. 



When these improvements are made, certainly no one will approxi- 

 mate the truth who asserts that sheep cannot be profitably kept on our 

 best Iowa farms. 



THE OUTLOOK FOR THE BREEDING OF PURE BRED SWINE. 



Q. W. Browning, Newton, Iowa. 



Preliminary remarks are like a hog's head and ears — quite essential 

 but we do not want any more of them than are necessary. 



I feel honored in having my name on this program, but I realize 

 that there are others here from a distance who are to speak this after- 

 noon and I hope to present my subject in the shortest time possible and 

 do it justice. 



The immediate outlook for pure bred swine is like the Indian's sign of 

 rain — clouds all round and pouring down in the middle. A strong demand 

 for desirable stock at remunerative prices. But what of the future? The 

 demand for breeding stock comes largely from the pork producer. Iowa 

 is well adapted to producing pork. She is surrounded with the greatest 

 pork producing territory in the world and with which we have excellent 

 railway connections. 



Hogs require for their best development plenty to eat and drink, some 

 exercise and a comfortable place to sleep. Exercise is best secured in 

 the pasture, where the hogs combines business with pleasure. Conditions 

 in respect to pasture are getting better every day. Farms are being 



