IMPORTANCE OF FARM ANIMALS 13 



in the scale of civilization, we find that animals became more 

 and more associated with him in his daily life. The oldest 

 historical works make frequent reference to farm animals. 

 In consulting the Bible, one will find in the Book of Genesis, 

 dating back over 2,000 years before Christ, repeated refer- 

 ence to herdsmen and horses and 'asses, cattle, sheep, and 

 goats. In fact, these people of early days were farmers, 

 and depended largely on their live stock. 



The importance of domestic animals to man is to be seen 

 in several ways. There are some features of special interest 

 to the student; namely, (a) the use of animals for clothing, 

 (b) for food, (c) for labor, and (d) in relation to maintaining 

 soil fertility. Each of these is of sufficient importance to 

 justify special consideration. 



The use of animals for clothing refers to the skin, hair, 

 and wool or other hairy covering. Earliest man is supposed 

 to have used the skins of animals for clothing, especially in 

 the cooler regions or during the colder seasons of the year. 



For thousands of years people have woven cloth from 

 wool and the hair of camels and goats. At the present day 

 the making of cloth from wool is a great industry in differ- 

 ent parts of the world. Millions of sheep even now have 

 their chief value in the wool that they produce. The lead- 

 ing industry of a number of English and American towns 

 and cities is the converting of wool into clothing; so we find 

 in them great mills employing thousands of people. 



The use of animals for food is of first importance. It is 

 for this purpose that cattle, sheep, and swine have been 

 domesticated; and the final end of all farm animals except 

 the horse, ass, and mule, must be for human food. Meat is 

 a concentrated food, rich in the substances that give strong 

 physical development. It is said that the meat-eating na- 

 tions rule the world; and, when we realize that the people 

 of North America, Great Britain, France, and Germany are 

 the greatest consumers of this food, we are inclined to be- 



