18 N. H. AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION [Bulletin 199- 



several years ago, aroused widespread interest in the state, and 

 these data will again be serviceable when the price of land tile is no 

 longer prohibitive. In these ways and many others, the experi- 

 mental fields, orchards, pastures and woodlands are being utilized 

 in the work to reduce the cost of production. 



FARM ANIMALS DECREASE 

 The decline in improved acreage throughout the state, as shown 

 by the recent census, has made every one who has the future of 

 New Hampshire at heart pause and consider. One of the factors 

 which is inevitably linked with this matter is the decline in the 

 number of farm animals. Since 1880 the state's animal popula- 

 tion has dropped from 317,300 to 182,700 in 1920; and it is a fore- 

 gone conclusion that it will increase again only in so far as it can 

 be demonstrated that live stock will insure a profit. The whole 

 question of abandoned farms and soil fertility is bound up in the 

 question : 



HOW CAN WE RAISE LIVE STOCK MORE 



PROFITABLY? 



There are only three ways in which improvement may be ob- 

 tained: through feeding, breeding, and selection. The work done 

 by the Station toward improved feeding practices has already 

 been considered. Its research work in breeding and selection is 

 no less important and may be summed up as follows : 



The Station determines the essential qualities that make an animal profitable. 



It has demonstrated how to select and breed animals suited to our local 

 conditions. 



It is the center of the movement to turn the scrub herds and flocks of thi» 

 state into profitable grades by demonstrating to farmers the economic value of 

 the piu-ebred sire. 



The robber cow, the scrub steer, the razorback hog and the 

 sheep that was bred for wool onl}- have contributed materially to 

 increase the number of abandoned farms in New Hampshire. 

 Unless better breeding and selection are practised, we may expect 

 no improvement in our live stock industry. 



It is perhaps significant of the Experiment Station's work in 

 animal husbandry that it has won the personal attention and 



