134 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



When it comes to practicable methods of extending the influence 

 of better live stock throughout the state, a further development of 

 community live-stock breeding projects gives much promise. 



A large field is still open in the direction of research. Studies 

 should be conducted to ascertain the energy requirements of sheep, 

 swine, and horses ; the factors which modify these requirements, par- 

 ticularly the age of the animal, its size, condition, and the atmospheric 

 conditions ; the efficiency of the horse in the performance of different 

 kinds of farm operations ; and the efficiency of the conversion of the 

 energy of feeds into meat, milk, and work, particularly as affected 

 by light, medium, and heavy rations. 



The fact that the future of live stock in Illinois will to a large 

 extent be shaped by the agricultural policy of the Nation, particularly 

 of the corn belt, and by the larger movements in agricultural pro- 

 duction in the world at large is unescapable. Because so much 

 depends upon what the state as a whole, the Nation, and the world 

 at large are doing, the largest possible assistance should be extended 

 in the development of plans for securing such information and making 

 it generally available for live-stock producers. 



In helping to solve the various problems arising out of live-stock 

 production, large use of economics will be required. Not only should 

 the most thoro research in agricultural economics be encouraged, 

 but also it is particularly important that agricultural students who 

 are to be the leaders in agricultural thought in the state should be 

 well grounded in the principles of economics. We must learn to fit 

 our live-stock operations into systems of farming so that they will 

 utilize, not only our surplus, but also the by-product feeds of the farm, 

 which would otherwise ordinarily go to waste. We must not allow 

 our live-stock operations permanently to take out of the cropping 

 system land that can better be utilized for grain production. In 

 other words, any attempt to preserve a phase of agriculture when its 

 preservation is uneconomic is a short sighted policy and indefensible. 



In our zeal to make the greatest possible use of this field of 

 study it is not necessary that the sense of proportion with reference 

 to other fields of study should be lost. The question resolves itself 

 rather into extending our lines of study, and to utilizing economics 

 in attempting to interpret and to gain a better understanding of the 

 relation of the various phases of agriculture, and indeed of the relation 

 of agriculture to other industries. 



No other institution is in as strategic a position to give proper 

 direction to the future of live stock in Illinois as the University of 



