INTRODUCTION. 



According to the Secretary of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, in the Yearbook of 1908: "The farmer who 

 has averaged hardly twenty cents a pound for the butter that 

 he has sold, between three and four cents a quart for his milk, 

 and about one and a half cents for each egg, and even to the 

 consumer who has paid prices much above these, it is a striking 

 fact that the value of the farm products of the dairy cow are 

 getting closer and closer to $800,000,000. Poultry and eggs 

 produced on the farms of the United States are worth as much 

 as the cotton crop, seed included, or the hay crop or the wheat 

 crop." 



Armsby says: "It is estimated by competent authority that 

 over 45 per cent, of the food consumption of the better classes in 

 the United States consists of animal products. Taking into 

 account the relatively higher prices of these materials it seems 

 safe to estimate that fully. half the amount spent for food by the 

 average well-to-do family goes for the purchase of meat, eggs 

 and dairy products." 



The following table gives statistics on farm animals in the 

 United States.^ 



These figures impress us with the vast expenditures and out- 

 lay of money in animals and animal products in the United States. 



It is interesting to note that the animal manufactures foods 

 such as fodders, hays, straws, grains, and wastes, many of which 

 are not fit food for man, into products which are used for human 

 consumption. 



i 1908 Yearbook, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



