346 AGRICULTURE 



extensively used for farm work in this country. The use of 

 oxen for work has now been almost wholly discontinued. 



During recent years, horses and mules have found a com- 

 petitor in the automobile and the traction-engine. Thousands 

 of farmers now own their cars, and the gasoline tractor is 

 a common sight on many of the larger western farms. In 

 spite of these facts, however, the number of horses and 

 mules on our farms is constantly increasing, and the mar- 

 ket for them is growing better and more uniform. The 

 price of work animals is considerably higher than it was 

 when automobiles and traction-engines began to come into 

 use. Horses will always have an important place in the 

 economy of the farm. 



2. Animals That Supply Food 



Meat and other animal products form a very important 

 part of our food supply. Even vegetarians, who are op- 

 posed to the eating of flesh, depend largely on such foods 

 as butter, eggs and milk. 



Meat as food. A great proportion of all our farm 

 crops goes to the feeding of meat producing animals. The 

 most progressive nations of the world are those that in ad- 

 dition to fruit and vegetables for the diet make much 

 use of their domestic animals in supplying food prod- 

 ucts. Meat is a more expensive food than grains and vege- 

 tables, and people of the poorer classes can not afford to 

 eat it. Millions of those living in oriental countries seldom 

 taste meat in any form. Lack of nutrition and a balanced 

 ration are shown in absence of ambition and enterprise. 



According to careful estimates the food supply in 

 American homes is divided among the different foods in 

 approximately the following proportions (Farmers' Bulletin 

 391): 



