396 DONIPHAN COUNTY, KANSAS. 



laro-e if interest on the money and taxes on the cattle Avere 



taken out. 



HOGS. 



We sold twenty-six hundred and fifty dollars' worth of 

 hoo"s, which were fattened mostly by the drift and waste from 

 these cattle. So the profit obtained would still be larger than 

 I estimated, if the exact expense were added to the cattle, and 

 the profit on the hogs added to the proceeds. I have obtained 

 better results than these, even, by raising the steers, and buy- 

 ing them when calves at weaning time, or at one year old. 



Hogs can be raised on my farm very cheaply, by means of 

 clover, with but very little corn. 



CATTLE ON HAND. 



I now have on hand some two hundred cows and heifers, 

 which Avill do to breed next Spring. Of these, about one hun- 

 dred are high grade. I have, for the purpose of breeding to 

 these cows and heifers, fine thorough-bred bulls. I have three 

 fine youn^. thorough-bred males of ray own raising. I keep a 

 few well bred Short-Horn heifers, as I expect to raise my own 

 breeding stock and have some to sell, rather than to be com- 

 pelled to pay out several hundred dollars every year for this 

 purpose. I think it highly important to have the best animals 

 that can be obtained for breeding purposes. I paid four hun- 

 dred dollars, this year, for a calf, rather than use one that did 

 not fill the bill, and which I could get for less money. Some are 

 afraid to have their ground trampled a little by stock. While I do 

 not believe trampling to benefit in wet weatlier, and think that 

 they should be kept off as much as possible when the ground 

 is soft, still I think stock are almost indispensable to the suc- 

 cess of a farm. I think those farmers who keep no stock, but 

 run their land every year in corn and wheat, raking and burn- 

 ing their stalks, and burning their straw, will soon complain of 

 poor crops and hard times. It is hard, after a man has raised a 

 poor crop of corn, to have to haul it from ten to fifteen miles, and 

 sell it at from fifteen to twenty cents per bushel. 



But, on the other hand, if plenty of stock is kept on the 



