18 A STUDY OF FARM ANIMALS 



of the food consumed returns to the farm to keep up its 

 fertility. Some forms of stock farming remove but very 

 little of the actual soil fertility. One reason why dairy- 

 cattle farming meets with so much favor is because of the 

 small amount of fertility sold from the farm in milk or 

 butter. Professor Vivian states* that the fertilizing value of 

 a ton of butter is but 44 cents, and that 5,000 pounds of 

 milk contain but $4.89 worth of fertility. As much as 80 

 or 85 per cent of the value of the food or crop becomes 

 animal excrement, and which under a progressive system of 

 agriculture is returned to the soil for its upbuilding. 



When, as in case of dairy-cattle farming, much more 

 grain is fed than is grown on the farm, then the land steadily 

 improves in its producing capacity. The best examples of 

 intelligent general farming are to be found where herds and 

 flocks are kept as important features of a well-balanced 

 farm system. Where the special business is stock farming, 

 then the final product in its concentrated form will yield 

 far more important and profitable returns in the long run 

 than will any other method. One hundred acres of grain 

 shipped a thousand miles require a large expenditure of 

 labor and money, while this same crop, in the form of a con- 

 centrated product like butter or meat, may be transported 

 at relatively much less expense. 



Live stock farming is adapted to the cheaper and rougher 

 lands. Much land that might not be used for other pur- 

 poses can be devoted to pasturing farm animals. The grass 

 on the hills is usually finer and sweeter than on the lowlands. 

 In various parts of the world where the land is naturally 

 poor or of a rough character, stock farming is an important 

 industry. In fact, no other kind of farming is so well 

 adapted to these conditions. On the Cheviot Hills of Scot- 

 land, the principal industry is that of sheep raising, grass 

 and sheep being the two crops. In Switzerland, high up on 

 the mountain sides are pastures which annually furnish feed 



*First Principles of Soil Fertility, 1908, p. 120-121. 



