FARM MANAGEMENT STUDY OF COTTON FARMS. 43 



The number of productive live stock per farm is the equivalent of 

 4.26 mature animals. They consist usually of a cow or two for the 

 production of milk and butter, a few hogs for meat, and a moderate- 

 sized flock of poultry for eggs and meat. These products are in- 

 tended mainly for home use, with frequently a small surplus for sale. 



The quantity of such products sold from these farms was so smaJl 

 that it had little influence on the farm profits one way or the other, 

 but it is to be noted that those farms making most profit generally 

 produced slightly more live-stock products than were needed for 

 home consumption. 



Local experience with live-stock enterprises is not sufficiently ex- 

 tensive to make it possible in a study of this character to determine 

 the desirability of such enterprises. But the fact that very few far- 

 mers here keep much more productive stock than are needed for home 

 use would lead the careful student to be conservative in recommend- 

 ing the general extension of such enterprises. It is a fact that many 

 farmers in this region have tried various live-stock enterprises from 

 time to time on a considerable scale. The fact that almost no such 

 enterprises remain indicates that local farmers have not found them 

 so well adapted to local conditions as cotton farming. This may be 

 ulue in part to lack of knowledge of stock farming on the part of 

 local farmers. If for any reason cotton farming should become un- 

 profitable, or far less profitable than now, it is probable that some 

 type or types of stock farming would be found to do very well here. 

 At present about all that can be said with confidence is that every 

 farm should certainly keep enough productive stock to supply its own 

 needs for their products. It would appear that these farmers gen- 

 erally do this. Furthermore, the records show that they raise prac- 

 tically all the feed needed by their live stock, which is in keeping with 

 sound practice. 



The farm needs include especially milch cows, hogs, and poultry 

 sufficient to supply the family, with a little surplus. Such live stock, 

 by consuming waste, by affording diversity of interest, by furnishing 

 fertilizer, by encouraging the raising of winter cover crops, and by 

 making sure abundant wholesome food for the family, return a much 

 greater profit than would appear from bookkeeping records. 



