INTROD UCTION. 44 $ 



with this grand heritage, how to obtain the fruits of the earth 

 and subordinate to his use the animals necessary to his subsist- 

 ence and comfort, must have been one of the first questions that 

 occupied his mind ; and now, after the lapse of ages, we are en- 

 gaged in the study of precisely the same question. How shall 

 we make the most of the gifts of a munificent Providence ? 

 Can stock growing as a part of our mixed husbandry be made 

 profitable on our high-priced lands ? 



" There are those with whom it has become a conviction that 

 stock growing is not a paying business, and who do not propose 

 to raise even the horses required to cultivate their own farms. 

 Our railroads, furnishing a cash market for grain at every depot,, 

 have induced many of our farmers to devote their lands almost 

 entirely to the production of grain to be sold. Farms of very 

 rich soil may endure this incessant plowing for a time; but 

 already we hear of farms that are growing poor and unproduc- 

 tive. For a man to so cultivate his land as to be obliged to 

 admit that it is growing poor under his management, is to exclude 

 himself from the number of those who may be called good 

 farmers. We believe farming on land worth one hundred dol- 

 lars per acre may be so conducted as to make it a reasonably 

 lucrative occupation, and at the same time the fertility of the 

 soil be retained and even improved. But we also believe this 

 can only be done by making stock growing a part of our mixed 

 husbandry. This can only be done by having good stock and 

 keeping it well. 



" In stock growing there is an opportunity offered for every 

 one to consult his taste, or, if you choose, his talent. Some 

 men have a talent for producing a superior quality of a certain 

 kind of stock. Let such cultivate their talent. A higher de- 

 gree of success is often attained by making a specialty of one 

 kind of stock. I believe, however, the average farmer will do 

 best to raise and keep a variety, and in this way the various 

 products of the farm can be utilized with more economy and 

 greater profit. If one has a taste for sheep, they may be kept 

 with profit, especially if a large portion of the farm be of broken 

 land or thin soil. The breeding and feeding of hogs has been 



