32 BULLETIN 941, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Forty per cent of the farms reported cattle losses. There was no 

 epidemic of a contagious disease, and the losses that occurred were 

 probably such as may normally be expected. These losses repre- 

 sented 3.6 per cent of the cattle kept. 



HOGS. 



Hogs, when raised on the acorns and mast in the woods, furnish 

 perhaps the cheapest meat produced in the Ozarks. This, however, 

 is quite a precarious business, owing to the losses due to predatory 

 animals, stealing, accident, and the uncontrolled epidemics of hog 

 cholera to which hogs on the range are subjected. The acorn and 

 mast crop is also quite variable. In some years there is no crop at 

 all, while during others there is an abundant crop. If there is an 

 acorn crop and the hogs are turned on the range, the additional 

 feeding of some corn is usually found profitable. The corn will 

 induce better gains. The feeding of skim milk, when cream is 

 sold off the farm, affords a profitable opportunity for hog produc- 

 tion. Soy beans, and cowpeas planted separately or in corn, and 

 used as grazing crops, also provide good feed for the hogs. Be- 

 cause of the serious losses sustained on the range, many farmers are 

 inclosing woods land, and not allowing the hogs to rove beyond the 

 confines of the farm. 



Hogs were kept on 74 of the 79 farms. Thirty-three farms re- 

 ported losses of hogs, leaving 55.4 per cent of the farms which suf- 

 fered no such loss. One hundred and sixteen hogs were reported as 

 having died during the year, and 54 small pigs. (These figures do 

 not include losses of pigs at farrowing or of very young pigs lost in 

 the woods.) The year was favorable to hog production, there being 

 no epidemic of cholera or other infectious disease. The percentage 

 of hogs lost to the total number of hogs handled on all the farms was 

 10.75. The percentage of loss on the farms which suffered losses was 

 much higher. In view of the fact that 41 farms sustained no losses 

 whatever and that many of the farms that conducted an extensive 

 hog business suffered only slight losses, it is evident that by better 

 care this loss could be materially reduced. 



HORSES AND MULES. 



On some of the farms the raising of colts contributed substantially 

 to the farm income. On other farms, not enough colts were raised 

 to replace losses of work stock. Eleven farms reported losses of 

 horses, 86 per cent of the farms suffering no losses at all. The total 

 number of mature animals that died was 10, and of colts 4. The 

 proportion of horses and mules lost to the number on hand during 

 the year was 3.43 per cent. This, as in the case of cattle, represents 

 a normal and unavoidable loss. 



