SOIL SURVEY OF LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA. 13 



the hogs sold in the county about 90 per cent are home raised and 

 10 per cent are shipped in to be fattened. All the farmers who feed 

 steers keep hogs, to follow the cattle. The average length of the 

 feeding period is 100 days. Corn and tankage are the principal 

 feeds. A small percentage of the corn crop is harvested by being 

 hogged down, and this practice will probably become increasingly 

 popular in the future. The raising of purebred hogs is quite an 

 important industry, although it is less developed than the raising of 

 purebred cattle and horses. There are 12 breeders of purebred Poland- 

 China, 7 of Duroc-Jersey, and 3 of Chester White hogs. 



Horse raising is carried on as a side line by most farmers, who 

 make a practice of selling their surplus colts. The prmcipal breeds 

 represented are Percheron and Shire. The grade horses are almost 

 all Percherons. 



There are three or four flocks of grade Shropshire sheep in this 

 county. The remainder are western sheep shipped in to be fattened. 

 Lambs weighing about 40 pounds are bought and turned in the corn 

 fields and sold when they reach a weight of 60 to 80 pounds. In 

 some cases corn is fed during the fattening period. 



Corn, the principal crop, is grown in all parts of the county. Very 

 little is shipped out of the county, however, except from Oakville. 

 A considerable quantity changes hands from grower to feeder, and 

 the remainder is fed on the farms where produced. In 1916, out of 

 58,822 acres in corn, according to the Iowa Yearbook, about 1,500 

 acres were cut for 111 silos. The number of silos and consequently 

 the acreage cut for ensilage has doubled since then. About 80 per 

 cent of the corn grown is yellow, the remamder bemg for the most 

 part white. The length of maturing period of the varieties grown 

 is 100 to 120 days. The varieties of yellow corn most commonly 

 grown are Eeids Yellow Dent, Learning, Golden Glow, Goldmine, 

 Pride of the North, and Mmnesota No. 13. The last two are 

 especially early. The leading white varieties are the Silvermme, 

 Silver King, and J. K, Brown, and the leadmg mixed varieties 

 Bloody Butcher and Calico. 



About two-thirds of the oats produced is shipped out of the county, 

 the remainder being fed on the farms. Almost the entire quantity 

 shipped from the county is first sold to local elevators, as producers 

 seldom ship directly to the grain centers. Only spring oats are 

 grown. The early varieties predominate, smce with late oats the hot 

 weather generally prevents the proper filling of the heads. The 

 principal early varieties are the Iowa 103, Texas Red, Kherson, 

 and Iowa 105; the principal late varieties, the Silvermine and Green 

 Russian. 



Practically no hay is shipped from the county. Timothy and 

 medium red clover predominate over all the other hay crops. Alfalfa 



