12 BEGINNINGS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



sights to be seen in Europe is the annual show of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society of England, where live stock is made 

 the leading feature, and where vast throngs of people go to 

 inspect and talk over the animals and watch the judges at 

 their work. The average Britisher is a lover of animals, 

 and expresses a common, inherited sentiment. This dis- 

 position on the part of a people, develops the finer, more 

 sympathetic qualities, and broadens and strengthens char- 

 acter. In the same way, the boy or girl who shows a devo- 

 tion to the animal given to his or her care, becomes finer, 

 more sympathetic, and broader minded, and is rendered more 

 resourceful and capable. From another point of view, ani- 

 mals play a most important part on account of their uses for 

 food and labor. Therefore, the study of animals as relating 

 to farm economy and the markets of the world becomes a 

 most important matter. 



The commercial value of the live stock industry is so 

 great that only a brief reference can be made to it here. 

 One is unable to comprehend the magnitude of the figures 

 which relate to either numbers or values of farm animals. 



The thirteenth United States census, for 1910, reports 

 the following numbers and values as applied to animals on 

 our farms for that year. 



CLASS OF STOCK NUMBER VALUE 



Horses . : 19,731,000 $2,076,000,000 



Mules and asses 4,285,000 522402,000 



Cattle 61,226,000 1,485,000,000 



Sheep 52,448,000 209,536,000 



Swine 58,186,000 615,170,000 



Total 195,876,000 $4,908,108,000 



By these figures we see that we had in 1910 almost 200 

 million animals on our farms, and that they were valued at 

 over four billion dollars, a sum far too big to comprehend. 



