CHAPTER VI 



Does Live Stock Pay? 



All live stock is not profitable. It does not re- 

 quire careful observation and wide experience to 

 demonstrate the truth of this statement. Hundreds 

 of thousands of farm animals in the United States 

 are kept at a loss. This is wholly unnecessary. 

 If judgment is used in selecting breeding stock, if 

 common sense is employed in handling and feeding 

 it, there is no excuse for unprofitable animals any- 

 where. Occasionally an animal becomes unprofit- 

 able through sickness or age. Then the thing to do 

 is to get rid of it without hesitancy. The great 

 trouble to date has been, first, a lack of information 

 as to just what a profitable animal is ; second, a 

 lack of inclination to dispose of unprofitable stock; 

 third, neglect or ignorance in feeding and handling. 



At this day and age of the world, there is ab- 

 solutely no excuse for lack of information concern- 

 ing farm live stock. There are enough successful 

 and practical breeders in the country to prove what 

 types are most profitable, so that anyone so dis- 

 posed may easily find out what kind of a horse, 

 or a cow, or a sheep, or a hog he must keep, if he 

 desires to show a profit on the right side of the 

 ledger. Never before have the agricultural col- 

 leges and experiment stations done so much along 

 these lines. This information is available in bul- 

 letin and book form or can be obtained by visit- 

 ing successful stock breeders, attending agricul- 

 tural meetings, etc. To neglect this source of in- 

 formation is a decided weakness and should not be 

 tolerated, 



