36 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION 



less than i.o bushels of corn per acre. His soil was exhausted 

 and almost worthless, a monument to his indifference and to his 

 absolute disregard for the welfare of future generations. Sup- 

 pose everyone shoulfl handle his farm in this way, what woulc' 

 become of the nation? 



The advantages to be had from live stock farming are 

 many. Live stock farming means diversified farming. Investi- 

 gations carried on by the Illinois Experimenting Stations shows 

 this kind of farming to be the most profitable system to carry 

 on. Labor is utilized to a better advantage. It makes it pos- 

 sible for the farmer to keep himself and his help employed 

 throughout the year. The return for labor seems to be largest 

 when the farmer does not put all his eggs in one basket. He 

 raises some hogs, a few colts, milks some cows, veals some 

 calves and has a steady income throughout the year from many 

 different sources. Live stock farming means silos. It means 

 the utilization of the cheap rough feed on the farm and the 

 turning of it into a high price product. Silage makes cheap milk 

 and cheap beef. Instead of leaving almost half of the total food 

 value of the corn plant standing in the field, to be blown into the 

 fence rows and gullies or possibly burned, this waste product may 

 be manufactured into a nutritious, palatable and high priced food. 

 Live stock farming means alfalfa, the plant that builds up the 

 soil, yet at the same time gives the farmer a large volume of 

 roughage with extremely high food value. It encourages a 

 careful study of farming as a business, makes the farmer more 

 of a business man. His pride in his work is greatly increased. 

 Almost every one has noticed the difference in the appearance 

 o^ a locality where live stock farming is carried on and where 

 grain farming is carried on. There is an air of prosperity 

 about a live stock farm that is very significant. 



The greatest advantage of live stock farming is its import- 

 ant relation to soil fertility. The product of the farm is so in a 

 condensed and finished form. Much land in the middle west 

 that has been farmed for over half a century is now producing 

 larger crops than it ever did. This has been made possible 

 through rotation of crops, better methods of tillage, better seed 



