62 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



every farmer, even on this high-price land, will find 

 it to his advantage to keep a limited number, at 

 least, of all classes of animals adapted to farm con- 

 ditions. 



While it is true that profitable stock production 

 up to date has been usually associated with the 

 cheap lands and with free range in the West, it is 

 also true that with the settlement of these areas 

 the total number of animals in the United States 

 is increasing and the benefit to the section as a 

 whole is becoming greater and greater every year. 

 Therefore, there is probably very little force in any 

 argument against the general proposition that stock 

 carefully selected, intelligently handled and eco- 

 nomically fed is profitable on any land in the coun- 

 try. 



The most difficult problem in profitable live stock 

 husbandry on lands of the middle and western 

 states, under present conditions, is that of cattle. 

 Cattle require a large grazing area, and they must 

 be at least two years old before they can profitably 

 be disposed of. The best authorities say that even 

 under these conditions there is no reason why, by 

 selecting breeding stock with great care, by feeding 

 economically and judiciously, cattle production is 

 not profitable. With hogs and sheep, however, 

 the problem is quite difl^erent. It is much easier 

 to get a start with either hogs or sheep, they mul- 

 tiply more rapidly, can be kept on more restricted 

 areas and do not consume nearly as large quan- 

 tities of feed. 



Taking sheep, there is little or no reason, present 

 prices of wool and mutton considered, why every 

 farm in the United States should not support a 

 flock containing all the way from 25 to 60 head. 

 It may surprise many to know that a flock of this 



