ANIMAL INDUSTRIES 307 



less than 500,000. The decrease in the number of 

 hogs is largely if not quite offset by the increase in 

 poultry, the number of which has been growing reg- 

 ularly since 1880. (See Figs. 28, 29.) 



It is to be expected that both the numbers and the 

 prevailing types of live-stock in New York, located 

 in the midst of the largest population on the Ameri- 

 can continent, should very accurately reflect the ad- 

 justment between such elements as the demand for 

 perishable animal products, the use of waste foods 

 of the farm and city, the relative supply of animal 

 foods in the country, and the crops New York can 

 produce to advantage. This adjustment, together 

 with the relative efficiency of the different animals 

 in utilizing foods, especially rough and waste foods, 

 must constantly be kept in mind in studying the 

 live-stock industries. Stock of all kinds are to a 

 large extent scavengers, using the crops and waste 

 material that man could not consume. This is the 

 economic basis on which they must be handled, not 

 only as to food but also as to labor. 



In one class of animals only does New York stand 

 first in numbers. This is in dairy cows, of which in 

 1910 there were 1,509,594; in 1915 there were 

 1,539,000. Wisconsin and Iowa are in second and 

 third places respectively. In the total value of all 

 live-stock. New York ranks eighth. The State is also 

 eighth in the value of all cattle but ninth in total 

 number. 



New York is fourteenth in the number of horses. 

 In number of sheep and swine, the rank is so low as 



