CHAPTER SIX 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



STOCK RAISING 



Indian Farming. Three hundred years ago the plains and 

 forests of this vast country were dotted here and there with the 

 farms, or patches, of Indians. These were usually little spots of 

 mellow soil. Indian women stirred the surface with crooked 

 sticks, buried seed corn in the soil thus prepared, and with the aid 

 of children pulled up weeds, frightened away 'robber crows/ 

 and gathered the ripe grain. 



In addition to the patch of corn there were, perhaps, others of 

 tobacco and beans; these, also, the women and children cultivated 

 by hand. The North American Indians kept no domestic animals, 

 - horses, mules, oxen, cows, hogs, sheep, or poultry. 



Domestic Animals. Very different are the vast and productive 

 farms which have succeeded the Indian patches. Our system of 

 farming depends largely on the use of domestic animals; over one 

 third the value of the farms of the United States is in the stock 

 kept on them. Horses, mules, and oxen cultivate the crops and 

 do the hauling. Cows supply milk, butter, and beef; sheep fur- 

 nish lamb and mutton, as well as wool; hogs yield pork and lard; 

 fowls give eggs and chickens; bees provide honey. 



The farmer who lacks these animals on his farm is apt to lack 

 their products on his table. Even when markets are convenient, 



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