PREFACE 



The purpose of this volume is to give information to those 

 who wish to improve their condition by means of hvestock, to 

 farmers generally, and especially to those interested in live- 

 stock farming and in breeding. It is intended also to serve 

 as a text-book in Animal Husbandry in agricultural schools, 

 in high schools and in elementary courses in colleges of 

 agriculture. 



The book is not a treatise on nutrition, nor is it primarily 

 a treatise on swine husbandry. The latter subject is covered 

 by the author's "Swine," published by the Breeders' Gazette, 

 of Chicago. It is not, again, a book of formulae. On the con- 

 trary, its prime object is a discussion of the care, feeding and 

 management of farm animals. In short, it deals in a simple 

 and practical way with the problems which must be met and 

 handled properly every day in order to make live-stock farm- 

 ing successful. It also touches upon the various breeds of 

 farm animals as well as the subject of poultry. 



The care and feeding of animals is not merely a mechanical 

 or mathematical problem in which two plus two always equals 

 four. It has to do with life, not merely with the physical 

 mechanism. While many of the factors may be determined 

 mathematically, such as the amounts of the different nutrients 

 — protein, carbohydrates, fat, mineral matter, and water, for 

 example — there are other factors of equal importance to be 

 considered and it is these that will be emphasized in the follow- 

 ing pages. They are fundamental to the successful handling 

 of all farm animals. 



Acknowledgment is made to W. P. Kirkwood, editor of the 

 Department of Agriculture, of the University of Minnesota, 

 for assistance in editing the manuscript of this book. 



The chapter on poultry was written by C. E. Brown, for 



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