338 DOMESTIC ANIMALS 
(1) Animals help to maintain the productivity of the land 
by supplying fertilizers and by making a better system of crop 
rotation possible. 
(2) They enable the farmer to make more constant use of 
his labor, teams, and tools. 
(3) They reduce the cost of living by helping to furnish the 
home food supply. 
(4) They can make use of land that would otherwise be 
unproductive. 
(5) They can make use of farm crops that would other- 
wise be wholly or partly wasted. 
(6) They manufacture into meat, butter, eggs, wool, etc., 
farm produce which is too bulky to ship long distances. 
(7) The management of live stock, manipulation of dairy 
products, and rearing of poultry require greater skill, and this 
commands higher returns. 
Some kind of live stock is kept on practically every farm 
in the country, and while formerly it was a relatively small 
part of our national wealth, it has now attained a rank of 
commanding importance. About a third of the farm produce 
of the entire country is now fed to live stock, and if that feed 
is deducted from the total produce, the value of the remainder 
will scarcely exceed the amount annually realized from ani- 
mals and animal products. 
