196 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



were their meat not inspected by the 

 government, and thus assurance given 

 that it has been inspected by competent 

 men and found to be free from disease, 

 cleanly prepared and properly labeled. 



Division of dairying — An important 

 division of the Bureau is the Division of 

 Dairying, the object of which is to "col- 

 lect and disseminate information con- 

 cerning dairy farming, the care and im- 

 provement of dairy cattle, and the pro- 

 duction, care and distribution of dairy 

 products." Especial attention is given to 

 dairy organizations, dairy schools, the 

 organization and management of cream- 

 eries and factories, the milk supply of 

 cities and towns, and the laws relative 

 thereto. The Division Architect prepares 

 plans and technical advice for the con- 

 struction of sanitary and economical 

 dairy buildings. The manufacture of 

 butter and the different kinds of home 

 and foreign cheeses are also studied. 



The work broadening in scope — 

 While the work of the Bureau hereto- 

 fore has been chiefly concerned in safe- 

 guarding the health of American live 

 stock, it is each year broadening the 

 scope of its activities. At the present 

 time it is undertaking, in co-operation 

 with the Colorado experiment station, 

 to originate an American breed of car- 

 riage horses, based upon American stock. 

 Extensive investigations are also being 

 made, in co-operation with the Pennsyl- 

 vania station, to ascertain the funda- 

 mental principles in the feeding of farm 

 animals. 



In this work the actual feeding values 

 of different crops is being determined. 

 Amounts are fed in an expensive piece 

 of apparatus so delicately constructed 

 that the energy expended in chewing 

 and digesting the food can be accurately 

 measured. This work, though slow and 

 expensive, should in time give us ac- 

 curate feeding standards, in place of 

 the very unsatisfactory standards in use 

 at the present time. Poultry breeding 

 experiments in co-operation with the 

 Maine station, and beef breeding and 

 feeding experiments in co-operation 

 with the Alabama stations, are also being 

 carried on. 



Bureau of plant industry — Co-oper- 

 ating with the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry is another division of the de- 

 partment, known as the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry. This bureau, among 

 many other activities, investigates the 

 best method of culture, harvesting and 

 curing of crops for the use of farm 



animals. One branch is studying range 

 problems, the best methods of maintain- 

 ing them in their highest state of effi- 

 ciency, improvement by the introduc- 

 tion of better forage plants, etc. Studies 

 are made of the plants poisonous to live 

 stock, and efforts made to find method 

 whereby their injurious effects may be 

 corrected. One division is studying sys- 

 tems of farm management; the purpose 

 of which is to learn the methods of the 

 most successful stock farmers and make 

 these methods available to all stockmen. 

 This division also plans cropping sys- 

 tems for farms in every section of the 

 country, giving in detail the best method 

 of laying out and cropping the farm and 

 the number and kind of animals it can 

 carry most profitably. 



In plant breeding work, the effort is 

 being made to secure varieties of corn 

 richer in protein and, therefore, more 

 satisfactory as a balanced ration for 

 feeding, and heavier yielding varieties 

 of corn, oats and other grains. The world 

 is being searched for better forage plants 

 and grains than we now have. 



The bureau of entomology of the 

 department, has made exhaustive studies 

 of the insects which prey upon farm an- 

 imals, and which not only make life a 

 burden to the animals themselves and 

 stunt their growth, but also carry con- 

 tagious diseases. Through the work of 

 this Bureau, stockmen know how to con- 

 trol practically all of the more serious 

 vermin affecting stock. 



The forest service controls the for- 

 est reserves of the United States, now 

 amounting to over 126 million acres. 

 In the West the forest reserves are 

 extensively used for grazing purposes. 

 The regulations of the service are such 

 as to maintain the reserves in the high- 

 est state of efficiency for both forestry 

 and grazing. The work of the Biolog- 

 ical Survey of the Department and of 

 the Fish Commission in the relations to 

 the stock farmer are considered in Part 

 XII. 



Division of publications — Last but 

 not least may be mentioned the Division 

 of Publications of the Department. In 

 this division are published the results 

 of experimental work in the department 

 Avith both animals and plants. Man\? 

 of the publications issued are of a sci- 

 entific nature and have only a limited 

 distribution; but much the larger num- 

 ber are popular and of direct interest 

 to farmers. 



