16 BULLETIN" 1070, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
grade or purebred, or crosses containing Jersey blood, were the most 
numerous. In 1912 the average dairy cow was valued at $47.81, 
and in 1918 at $79.05. 
In 1912 and in 1918 about 9 per cent of all the farm receipts were 
derived from the sale of dairy products. It is considered locally 
that Catawba County is a fairly well developed dairy section, but 
many of the farmers keep only one or two cows, principally for home 
use, selling a small amount of butter or cream during the season of 
highest production. la 1912, eighty-eight per cent and in 1918, 
eighty-three per cent of the farmers sold some dairy products. 
Recently considerable interest has been taken in the further 
development of the dairy enterprise throughout much of the Pied- 
mont country. At the time the survey was made there was one 
creamery in the area and several more were within a few miles of the 
surveyed area. Cream routes have been established over the greater 
part of the territory. 
Several bull associations have recently been organized, and a 
number of high-class *purebred dairy bulls have been brought into 
the area by others. Most of the dairy cows here are. of poor quality, 
however, and altogether too many farmers fail to give enough atten- 
tion to using good sires and to weeding out the poor cows from their 
herds. 
In 1912, 5 per cent, and in 1918, 4 per cent of all the farm receipts 
came from poultry. In 1912, the average number of chickens per 
farm was 53; in 1918 the number had decreased to 47. All of the 
farmers kept some poultry, but in spite of the efforts that have been 
made to encourage the keeping of poultry in the area, there were no 
large flocks on any of the farms. 
In 1912 the receipts from hogs averaged $21 per farm; in 1918, $52 
per farm (Table 5). The average number of brood sows per farm 
each year was 0.7; that is, on every 10 farms studied there were 7 
brood sows. The number of swine on farms in Catawba and nearby 
counties of the Piedmont region has decreased continuously since 
1880. The wisdom of this change in practice has frequently been 
questioned; nevertheless it continues and apparently is becoming 
more marked decade by decade. Only about one-half of the farmers 
sold hogs or pork. It is questionable whether under existing con- 
ditions much extension of hog raising could be recommended. On 
many farms, however, more hogs could be kept to consume feed that 
otherwise would be wasted. 
Table 12 shows the distribution of expenses on the farms for 1912 
and for 1918. 
