550 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



by rains or delay in harvesting, often are unsalable, but may be utilized 

 for feed for stock. In the same way corn and small grains are sometimes 

 damaged by exposure to the weather or early frosts, and may have con- 

 siderable feeding value, but no value on the market. 



Animals Transform Coarse, Bulky Products into Concentrated Form. — 

 Animals convert coarse, bulky, raw materials into a more concentrated 

 and valuable finished product, and one that may be marketed with less 

 cost and to much better advantage. It requires about 10 pounds of dry 

 matter to produce 1 pound of beef or 30 pounds of dry matter to produce 

 1 pound of butter. The farmer in transforming such coarse products to 

 a more refined one not only reaps the profit in the process of manufacture, 

 but the pound of butter may be sent to a market a thousand miles away, 

 when the material from which it was made could not be profitably sent to 

 a market ten miles distant. One cent a pound for transporting butter 



livestock and the sllo increase the profits on 

 High-priced Land. 1 



would be but a small percentage of its value, but one cent a pound for 

 transporting hay would be prohibitive. 



Animals Return Fertility to the Soil. — In the manufacture of these 

 finer products on the farm, animals leave much of the fertilizing material 

 to be returned to the soil. This has been thoroughly discussed in the 

 chapter on farm manures, and need not be emphasized at this point. In 

 considering livestock farming from this standpoint, it is only necessary to 

 determine whether it has been successful in maintaining soil fertility. 

 A study of the crop-producing capacity of the soil in different regions shows 

 conclusively that crop yields are largest where large numbers of livestock 

 are maintained. 



Livestock Facilitate Good Crop Rotations. — A good crop rotation 

 should include inter-tilled crops, small grains and grasses and clovers. 



1 Courtesy of Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, Minn. 

 Rotations," by Parker. • 



From "Field Management and Crop 



