LIVE STOCK 



Good land, good live stock and good people are closely allied, if not absolutely 

 essential, to permanent agricultural prosperity. No better soil or live stock or 

 people can be found anywhere in \he world than in Mississippi. Farming absorbs 

 the thought of over 85 per cent of its people, who obtain their livelihood directly 

 from the soil. The problems of soil maintenance and improvement are vital not 

 alone to this 85 to 87 per cent, but to the entire population, which is dependent 

 directly or indirectly upon agricultural production. 



Ranking among the great cotton states, Mississippi is fast coming to the front 

 in the production of live stock, and instead of this industry supplanting cotton as 

 a money crop, it is rapidly adding one more great source of revenue to the farmers 

 of the State. From January, 1914, to January, 1918, there was an increase in the 

 number of hogs in the State from 1,467,000 to 1,902,000, or 29 per cent. During 

 this same period there was an increase in the number of cattle from 911,000 to 

 1,152,000, or 26 percent. In 1915 the number of hogs shipped to one of the central 

 markets from this State was 7,242, while in 1917 it was 88,732. On January 1, 

 1918, there were 1,902,000, and on January 1, 1919, 2,289,835 head of hogs, with 

 a total valuation of $35,075,688, as compared with $28,530,000 for January 1. 

 1918. The improvement in quality has been in keeping with the increase in 

 numbers. During the past year Mississippi-fed steers have broken records for all 

 sections and all times on the St. Louis market. 



The tendency to produce all cotton is being discouraged and diversification is 

 rapidly taking the place of the old one-crop system. The crops thus produced can 

 be most advantageously marketed by means of live stock. By this method the 

 farmer has learned he can retain from 70 to 75 per cent of the plant food in the 

 crops grown instead of marketing them. 



Among the most important feed crops that can be produced may be mentioned 

 alfalfa, corn, oats, Lespedeza, grass hays, velvet beans, cow peas, soy beans, 

 peanuts, sweet potatoes, rye, rape, red and crimson clovers. The velvet bean is 

 the most important feed crop in the southern part of the State. In the Prairie 

 Belt, the eastern part of the State, alfalfa is grown without liming the soil and is 

 closely allied with the live-stock industry in that section; Lespedeza and alfalfa 

 are especially valuable in the feeding of young cattle, and to successfully carry 

 on dairying and live stock. Another important factor is cottonseed meal, which 

 is available in all parts of the State. 



Short Winters and Plentiful Pasturage Make an Ideal Live-Stock Country 



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