INTRODUCTION 



LIVE STOCK AND PROFITABLE FARMING 



Farmers, as well as most other classes of people in the United States, 

 have passed thru difficult and perplexing times during the days of 

 readjustment since the close of the World War. These years have brought 

 lessened profits and even serious losses to many. At such a time it is 

 especially important that all possible means be taken to lower the cost 

 of producing farm products thru adopting the most efficient methods 

 and practices, else no profit will remain for the farmer. 



Fortunately, in no line of agriculture is there a greater opportunity 

 to do this than in live stock production. This is because recent epoch- 

 making discoveries have made possible much greater efficiency in the 

 feeding of our live stock. Furthermore, far-sighted stockmen have been 

 improving the various breeds of animals until today our dairy cattle, 

 beef cattle, sheep, and swine are remarkably efficient animals for con- 

 verting the crops of the fields into food for man and products useful 

 to him. Only when a farmer plans his feeding operations with a thoro 

 understanding of the food requirements of these highly developed animal 

 machines can he hope to secure from them the most profitable production. 



Many of the discoveries in animal nutrition and stock feeding are so 

 recent that the results have not as yet been presented in publications 

 which reach the majority of practical farmers. Consequently, they are 

 not acquainted with these developments of the past few years, or else 

 do not understand their true relation to farm practice. In the prepar- 

 ation of this edition especial attention has been given, therefore, to the 

 recent developments in our knowledge concerning the science and practice 

 of stock feeding. Thruout the book the primary object has been to 

 point out clearly ways in which farm animals may be fed more efficiently 

 and economically so that they will return more profit to their owner. 



1. Functions and importance of live stock. The animals of the farm 

 should be regarded as living factories that are continuously converting 

 their feed into products useful to man. A fact of great economic im- 

 portance is that a large part of the food they consume is of such character 

 that humans can not directly utilize it themselves. Among the products 

 yielded by the farm animals are not only articles of human diet, such as 

 meat, milk, and eggs, but also such materials as wool, mohair, and hides, 

 which are needed for clothing and other purposes. Another product of 

 greater aggregate money value than any one of these is the work per- 

 formed by horses and other draft animals. The great importance of 

 animal husbandry in the United States is shown by the fact that the 



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