24 BULLETIN 853, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



During the period April 1, 1916, to April 1, 1917, the 349 farmers 

 bought for their farms 32 head of pure-bred Holsteins, 13 pure-bred 

 Jerseys, 6 pure-bred Guernseys, and 5 pure-bred Shorthorns. In 

 addition to the above pure-bred cattle, many began to improve the 

 quality of their herds through the purchase of good grade stock and 

 also by using pure-bred bulls. 



Ten per cent of the total farm receipts and about one-seventh of the 

 stock receipts were from poultry. The receipts from poultry exceeded 

 those from any class of live stock except cattle, were nearly as great 

 as the combined receipts from hogs and sheep, and were over two- 

 thirds as much as the receipts from crops. Fifteen per cent of the 

 farms of the area sold over $200 worth of poultry and eggs per farm. 

 Some of the farmers got good returns from turkeys. Not many 

 ducks or geese were kept in the area. A reasonable increase in the 

 amount of poultry, including turkeys, would seem warranted on man} 7 

 of the farms, especially on the farms with an abundance of family 

 labor. Increased attention could be given to the poultry business 

 without any interference with the major operations of the farm. 



The receipts from hogs made up 8 per cent of all the farm receipts, 

 besides furnishing an average of 594 pounds of pork per farm for family 

 use. Hogs were kept on nearly every farm, except some that sold 

 whole milk to the creamery or as market milk. 



Receipts from sheep made up less than 3 per cent of the total farm 

 receipts. The coarse-wool sheep predominated and the Shropshire 

 was the principal breed. Only about 1 farmer in 12 following the 

 dairy type kept sheep, while they were kept by one-third of the 

 general farmers. The flocks averaged 15 head and produced 12 

 lambs per flock. 



There were a few farms in the area where the stock sales were 

 principally from beef cattle, but not enough of them to justify 

 drawing any definite conclusions relative to the comparative profit- 

 ableness of dairy cattle and beef cattle. 



During the year of the survey the prices received for beef cattle 

 were relatively higher than the prices received for dairy products, 

 and consequently the beef-cattle farms would show a little higher 

 labor income on the average than would an equally efficient group 

 of dairy farms. Steers were kept on most of the general farms. The 

 labor income of the general farms is a little higher than that of the 

 dairy farms. On some of the larger farms very good returns were 

 realized last year from beef cattle. 



It is probable that beef cattle can be raised at a profit on many of 

 the larger farms, particularly those having large areas of rather wet 

 pasture not adapted to sheep raising. Beef cattle require much 

 less care than dairy cows, and where there is a shortage of labor on 

 the farm the raising of beef cattle may be advisable. 



