LESSON XLV 

 MIXED FARMING 



Mixed farming is the raising of crops and live stock 

 on the same farm. Some kinds of animals are kept on 

 nearly all farms. Horses and mules are used for work, 

 cattle for beef and milk, hogs for pork, sheep for mutton 

 and wool, and poultry for eggs and meat. 



Advantages. - - There are many advantages in rais- 

 ing live stock on the farm in connection with growing 

 crops. Plants require organic matter in the soil as 

 well as mineral matter, and if crops alone are raised 

 and sold off the farm, there can be very little return of 

 organic matter to the soil. If the plants that are 

 raised on the farm are fed to stock, a large amount of 

 organic matter in the form of manure is returned to 

 the soil and thus the farm keeps up in fertility. It has 

 been observed that live-stock farmers are nearly always 

 prosperous. 



There is another advantage in raising animals and 

 crops on the farm. Animals must be cared for every 

 day, but they require more attention in the winter 

 than in the summer. During the summer season the 

 labor is put on the fields to produce the crops ; and in 



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