INTRODUCTION 



Any study of scientific agriculture should include a study 

 of stock feeding, inasmuch as 15 per cent of the total farm 

 capital of this country is invested in farm animals, and all 

 these animals must be fed. According to the United States 

 Department of Agriculture there are 25,000,000 horses and 

 mules, 59,000,000 cattle, 52,000,000 sheep, and 65,000,000 hogs 

 in the United States. 77.6 per cent of the corn crop, 59.0 per 

 cent of the oats crop, 32.5 per cent of the barley crop, and 80.0 

 per cent of the hay crop are fed to animals on the farm. These 

 figures do not take into consideration the animals of the cities. 

 The value of these crops is something over $2,270,000,000. 

 or if one includes the horses of the cities, the total feed bill 

 of this country is at least $2,500,000,000 per year exclusive of 

 the enormous amounts of money spent for commercial feeds 

 not grown on the farm, such as bran, cottonseed meal, etc. 

 All together the animals of the United States produce about 

 $5,000,000,000 worth of products yearly, — a sum nearly as 

 great as the value of our total crops. 



No matter what phase of agriculture a man expects to make 

 his life work, whether he is a dairyman, a live stock farmer, 

 an orchardist, a grain farmer, or a market gardener, he is cer- 

 tain to need at least a general knowledge of the feeding of 

 farm animals. There is no type or system of agriculture 

 which does not necessitate the use and, consequently, the 

 feeding of some animals. To the specialist in animal or dairy 



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