LIVESTOCK AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS 



81 



Sheep. 111651 



Increase in total number of about 3.4 per cent. Average price per head also 

 increased together with total value. • 



Swine. 



Total number decreased about 8.2 per cent, but total value, due to higher 

 unit values, increased. 



ESTIMATES FOR THE UNITED STATES 



NUMBERS 



VALUES 



Per Cent 

 of Last 

 Year 



Total 



Number 



(000) 



Per 

 Head 



Total 

 (000) 



a/ All cattle and calves includes milk cattle which shown separately. 



TOTAL VALUE UNITED STATES: Total value of all farm animals on January 1. 

 1926, was $5,001,297,000; a year ago, $4,685,021,000, an increase of $316,276,000 or 

 6.8 per cent. 



TRENDS OF MONTANA LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION 



Horses and Mules. 



Horses continue to show a steady downward trend in numbers, due princi- 

 pally to the declining market for Montana horses that followed the war i)eriod. 

 Exports have declined steadily from 1920 to 1923 since which time exports of 

 range horses have become largely those to east central market canning factories. 



Colt crops have generally decreased to a point where breeding is now mainly 

 for maintenance of farm work stock and there has been a tendency in breed- 

 ing to get away from the smaller type of Montana range animal to a heavier 

 ^— — type more adaptable for farm work. 



— 5 ^ — ^The January 1, 1926, number estimated at 576,000 compares with 596,000 head 

 ^C^^^ear ago and the peak number of 1919 which was 720,000 head. 



Montana has never produced mules in any great number, the average of the 

 past ten years being well below 10,000 head for the entire state. In recent years 

 there has been a slight increase in breeding and use of mules with the present 

 number being placed at about 11,000. 





