STOCK RAISING AND SOIL FERTILITY 



181 



On heavy soils the manure may be 

 plowed 4 to 5 inches deep, and on light- 

 er soils 7 to 8 inches deep. From 10 to 

 15 tons of manure are usually sufficient 

 for the production of maximum grain 

 crops. 



Frequent light applications for both 

 hay and grain give much better results 

 than occasional heavy applications. 



SYSTEMS OF STOCK FABMING 



There are 5,739,657 farms in the 

 United States. Live stock is kept on 

 96 per cent of these farms, while on 

 about one-third of them, live stock or 

 live stock products is the principal 

 source of income. 



On the majority of the stock farms in 

 the United States, a number of different 

 classes of stock is maintained; horses to 

 work the farm, from which a few colts 

 may be bred for sale; sheep to keep the 

 weeds down in the meadows, graze over 

 the rough land, eat up the surplus 

 roughage of winter, and produce wool 

 and lambs for sale ; cows, to supply milk 

 and butter and furnish some stock for 

 fattening and for sale; hogs to eat up 

 the waste and odds and ends about the 

 farm, dairy and house, and to condense 

 and turn the corn crop into money; and 

 poultry for eggs and for the table. 



In the complete utilization of all farm 

 crops, and in the maintenance of soil 

 fertility, there is a place for the profita- 

 ble use of each of the different farm 

 animals. 



Advantages of general stock farming 

 — If corn is grown for hogs alone, the 

 fodder would be an entire waste, but by 

 feeding it to cattle, horses or sheep, this 

 waste material is turned to profitable ac- 

 count. The large quantities of skim 

 milk obtained as a by-product on the 

 dairy farm would represent a severe loss 

 were not hogs, calves or poultry kept to 

 convert it into veal, pork or eggs. These 

 various reasons and the further fact that 

 all the animals fit in one way and an- 

 other to further the pleasure and comfort 

 of the daily life of the farm family, show 

 why general stock farming is more pop- 

 ular than special stock farming. 



Factors which determine the kind 

 of stock farming in a locality — While 

 these reasons generally hold, there are 

 certain other factors which go to deter- 

 mine the kind of stock farming that is 

 followed in any community, these are 

 soil, climate, population, etc. Thus we 

 find that the finest race horses of the 



country are produced on the limestone 

 soil and blue grass region of Kentucky. 

 White breeds of hogs are unsuccessfully 

 grown in the South because of sun scald. 

 Dairy farming is most highly developed 

 in the more densely settled portions of 

 the country. Live stock ranching, on 

 the other hand, is profitable only in the 

 sparsely settled western states and in a 

 climate where stock can remain out all 

 winter. Sheep diseases are especially se- 

 vere in the South and tend to restrict 

 the development of the sheep industry 

 in the more southern states. The large 

 poultry farms are usually located within 

 easy access to the larger markets. 



Since general stock farming represents 

 the most common type in America, and 

 in fact all countries, a concrete example 

 of the system followed on one of the 

 better classes of these farms may be 

 suggested. The farm is that of Mr. 

 E. _ E. Chester, of Champaign County, 

 Illinois, and the description is that of 

 Prof. W. J. Spillman. 



Typical general stock farm The 



stock raised on this farm are cattle, hogs 

 and horses. The farm contains about 

 440 acres of rich, black, prairie loam. 

 Enough stock is kept to consume all the 

 produce of the farm and a little more. 

 About 100 acres are kept in permanent 

 blue grass pasture and 100 more in tem- 

 porary timothy and clover pasture. The 

 leading cultivated crop is corn, of which 

 l'+O acres are annually grown. About 50 

 to 60 acres are planted to wheat and oats 

 each year and the remainder of the 

 farm with clover or timothy and clover. 

 No systematic rotation is followed. This 

 is seldom necessary on a stock farm since 

 the fertility of the farm is maintained 

 by the use of manure, which is applied 

 on the fields that need it most. 



The manure on this farm is usually 

 applied to the corn crop. Corn averages 

 50 bushels per acre; oats 50; wheat 20; 

 hay about 2 tons to the acre. Some 50 

 acres of hay are cut each year. A 100-ton 

 silo is filled each year and about 40 acres 

 of corn cut for fodder. The blue grass 

 pasture is grazed off during the early 

 part of the season but usually sufficient 

 stock is sold off so that it is given com- 

 parative rest during the summer time. 

 The pasture accumulates so much fer- 

 tility that it is occasionally broken up 

 and cropped. 



The stock kept consists of about 100 

 head of cattle, 100 hogs or more and some 

 20 head of horses, which is about twice 



