INTRODUCTION 



No factor is of as great importance in American 

 agriculture as the keeping of profitable live stock. 

 By profitable live stock is meant stock that will 

 pay for its keep and return a net profit. The value 

 of profitable live stock is appreciated by a large 

 number of people, but the bulk of the American 

 farmers do not thoroughly understand why one 

 animal is more profitable than another. It is 

 manifestly bad policy to keep a dairy cow at a 

 cost for feeding and maintenance of $60 a year when 

 she returns only $40 or $50 in the form of butter 

 and milk in addition to her calf. Dairy statisticians 

 tell us that hundreds of thousands of dairy cows in 

 the United States belong to that unprofitable type. 



It is also perfectly apparent that a meat produc- 

 ing animal of any kind which does not mature 

 rapidly, attain at least fair size in a short time, 

 which does not utilize every bit of food eaten, and 

 cannot be placed on the market at a good price, is 

 also unprofitable. Live stock statisticians also tell 

 us that there are many thousands of meat produc- 

 ing animals of this unprofitable type, particularly 

 on the general farms in America. 



Because of this lack of information, it is highly 

 important that the general farmer, as well as the 

 special stock farmer, should have these matters 

 brought to his attention. For this reason this 

 little book is written. It is impossible, in a work 

 of this kind, to go into detail in any particular line. 

 The thought throughout is to call attention, first, 

 to the general principles involved in every branch 

 of profitable live stock husbandry and to give 



