OUTLOOK FOR LIVE STOCK 133 



The horse, so recently threatened with banishment from corn- 

 belt farms has demonstrated that he still deserves a place on every 

 farm and for short haul work in cities. The location of the state, and 

 the long years of successful experience of Illinois farmers in horse 

 production, point to the conclusion that there should be some profit 

 to a community in producing its own work stock, with possibly some 

 surplus to sell. 



FUTURE LINES OF DEVELOPMENT 



Broadly speaking, it is difficult at a time when agriculture 

 is in such a disturbed condition as it is at present, to forecast the 

 future of live stock in Illinois. Notwithstanding this, it is all the 

 more desirable to take a forward look and indicate along what lines 

 our thought and action should lie, keeping in mind that some of our 

 conclusions will most likely need revision as the agriculture of the 

 country returns to a more normal state. 



More economical production may still be effected as a result of 

 further investigations in animal breeding and feeding. 



In the selection of breeding stock of dairy cattle, meat animals, 

 or poultry, we follow rather blindly the traditions and standards 

 handed down to us from the past, without much knowledge, except 

 in dairy cattle, whether those standards are justified by the capacity 

 of the animal to produce economically. A thoro testing of present 

 standards for the selection of animals for various purposes such as 

 meat, milk, and work is sorely needed. Not much progress has been 

 made in developing practicable methods of measuring the efficiency 

 of breeding animals of the meat-producing types. 



There is need for a greater degree of independent thought and 

 action among live-stock breeders. Perhaps to too large an extent 

 have breeders silently submitted to the fixation of types in our breeds 

 by individuals and groups whose chief thought was more the com- 

 mercialization of an idea than its utility. In general, live-stock 

 breeders, while displaying great skill in the development of animals 

 to meet the standards of the show ring, have lacked courage in giving 

 proper recognition to the development of breeding animals with the 

 usefulness of the animal in the every-day economy of the farm pri- 

 marily in mind. It is to be hoped that this will be one of the sig- 

 nificant developments of the next twenty-five years. 



The development of disease resistant strains, within our im- 

 proved breeds of animals, offers a fertile field of inquiry. 



