Beginnings in animal husbandry

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Foreword

Agricultural education in America is comparatively new. Previous to 1870 but few colleges of agriculture existed in this country. During the period between 1870 and about 1890, interest was awakened in this field of education. Many of the agricultural colleges graduated their first classes along in the seventies. Excepting a few men who had been trained in chemistry, as applied to agriculture, there were almost no instructors who had received what we now regard as an agricultural education. The instruction known as agricultural, then consisted of lectures on familiar farm practices, frequently supplemented by manual labor on the part of the student. Text books were few, and the preparation of new ones was slow.

Agricultural education under these conditions lagged, and how to encourage interest became a serious problem with the colleges. Educators insisted that the teaching should be largely based on pure science, and it was often difficult for the students to see the apphcation.

Recognizing this lack of interest, a few Western colleges conceived the plan of giving short winter courses of a popular nature, in which practical laboratory instruction should be given. Work in dairying, horticulture, and live stock judging first received attention. This practical training was most favorably regarded by the students. These winter courses grew rapidly in popularity, and paved the way for more attractive forms of instruction for the rt^guhir students. Through this medium of the short winter course, both interest and attendance in the agricultural colleges rapidly grew. New courses of study were established, more buildings and equipment were required, and then agricultural education sprang into popularity. The production of new types of text books, on subjects heretofore undiscussed in pedagogical form, logically followed in this evolution in agricultural education.

During this movement in behalf of rural upHft, a few progressive men urged the importance of agricultural education in the country schools of higher grade. This resulted in establishing agricultural schools of secondary grade in different parts of the United States, both North and South. During the past few years, country Hfe has become popular. As a result, there is a widespread movement in behalf of agricultural education, and the subject is now being taught in its various phases in many schools all over the land.

Recognizing the need of an elementary text book for young people, the author has seen fit to prepare this volume on animal husbandry, the first of its kind devoted to this special field. It is his earnest hope that such lessons as either teacher or pupil shall find within these pages, may result in a desire for yet wider knowledge of and a more sympathetic interest in our farm animals.

Charles S. Plumb.

Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, November 1, 1912.

Contents

Chapter

I. The Importance of Animal Husbandry

II. The Breeds of Horses ....

Chapter I The Importance Of Animal Husbandry

The study of domestic animals may be considered both a pleasure and a duty. A pleasure, because of the naturalborn interest man feels in all animals; and a duty, on account of the service horses, cattle, sheep, and swine play in the world's affairs. Between many people, and even nations,

Fig. 1. A view at the Royal Agricultural Society Show of England. Photograph by the author.

and their domestic animals, we find an affectionate, sympathetic relationship. The people of Great Britain, the world's loading stockmen, from the King and Queen to the humblest laborer, show a keen and kindly interest in everything relating to farm live stock. Oiu^ of tlu^ most iutc^n^sting sights to be seen in Europe is the annual show of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, where live stock is made the leading feature, and where vast throngs of people go to inspect and talk over the animals and watch the judges at their work. The average Britisher is a lover of animals, and expresses a common, inherited sentiment. This disposition on the part of a people, develops the finer, more sympathetic qualities, and broadens and strengthens character. In the same way, the boy or girl who shows a devotion to the animal given to his or her care, becomes finer, more sympathetic, and broader minded, and is rendered more resourceful and capable. From another point of view, animals play a most important part on account of their uses for food and labor. Therefore, the study of animals as relating to farm economy and the markets of the world becomes a most important matter.

The commercial value of the live stock industry is so great that only a brief reference can be made to it here. One is unable to comprehend the magnitude of the figures which relate to either numbers or values of farm animals.

The thirteenth United States census, for 1910, reports the following numbers and values as applied to animals on our farms for that year.

Class of Stock Number Value

By these figures we see that we had in 1910 almost 200 million animals on our farms, and that they were valued at over four billion dollars, a sum far too big to comprehend.

The significant thing is simply to reahze the vastness of our hve-stock industry, and the enormous sum of money here invested, besides the value of the animals themselves. The greatest live-stock producing section of the country includes the states of New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas. The two states of most importance in numbers of each kind of five stock in the United States in 1910, are as follows:

Horses flowa first, with 1,489,000

\Illinois second, with 1,450,000

Cattle /Texas first, with 6,722.000

\Iowa second, with 4,468,000

Sheep /Wyoming first, with 5,397,000

\Montana second, with 5,381,000

Swine. /Iowa first, with 7,527,000

\lllinois second, with 4,684,000

We see from the above that Iowa ranks first in numbers of horses and swine, and second in cattle, which gives this state the leading position in live-stock production; Illinois holds a close second place.

The importance of our hve stock may also be seen from another point of view in connection with our local markets. The city of Chicago is the largest live-stock market in the world. The Union Stock Yards of that city cover 500 acres, and received in 1911 a total of 16)^ millions of farm animals, valued at about 340 millions of dollars. Nearly 272,000 car loads of live stock were received in these yards in 1911. This is equal to 745 cars a day. At an average length of 34 feet to a car, these cars would make one solid train of live stock about 4^ miles long. There are 300 miles of railway in and about the yards to handle^ all this great traffic. Sonu^ 5(),0()() p(H)ple live about tlu^ yards and get their daily incomes from them. Here arc^ iinineuse

BEGIXXIXGS IX AXIMAL HUSBAXDRY slaughter houses and meat packing plants, from which meats are shipped to all parts of the world. The Union Stock Yards and packing houses are noted features of the great city of Chicago, and are daily visited by tourists from all over America and many other countries. In 1909 there were 1641 slaughtering and meat-packing plants in the United States, in which were killed and prepared for food, over a billion dollars worth of farm animals. These figures are given simply to show something of the importance of the

Fig. 2. A view in the Union Stock Yards, Chicago.

The Farmer.

Photograph by courtesy

Uve-stock trade and of the part it must play in American agriculture.

The first use of animals by man dates back to the days when there was no civilization, when no written records were made, and the people lived as ignorant savages. This was in prehistoric times, when the only implements used were very crude ones made by hand, of stone, iron, or copper. That animals lived with man in these prehistoric days, we know, because the bones of man, and those of horses, cattle, and other animals have been found mingled together in the remains of prehistoric villages in Europe. As man ascended in the scale of civilization, we find that animals became more and more associated with him in his daily life. The oldest historical works make frequent reference to farm animals. If one consults the Bible he mil find in the Book of Genesis, dating back over 2000 years before Christ, repeated reierence to herdsmen and horses and asses, cattle, sheep, and goats. In fact, these people of early days were farmers, and depended largely on their live stock.

The importance of domestic animals to man is to be seen in several ways. There are some features of special interest to the student; namely, (a) the use of animals for clothing; (b) for food; (c) for labor, and (d) in relation to maintaining soil fertility. Each of these is of sufficient importance to justify special consideration.

The use of animals for clothing refers to the skin, hair and wool or other hairy covering. EarHest man is supposed to have used the skins of animals for clothing, especially in the cooler regions or colder parts of the year.

For thousands of years people have woven cloth from wool, and the hair of camels and goats. At the present day the making of cloth from wool is a great industry in difforc^nt parts of the world. Millions of sheep even now have their chief value in the wool that they produce. The leading industry of a number of English and American toA\ais and cities is the converting of wool into clothing; so we find there great mills employing thousands of people.

The use of animals for food is of first importance. It is for this that cattle, sheep, and swine have \)vvn domesticated; and the final end of all farm animals except the horse, ass, and mule, must be for human food. Meat is a concentrated food, rich in the substances that giv(^ strong ])hysical

16 BEGiyyiyOS IX AMMAL HUSBAyDRY

development. It is said that the meat -eating nations rule the world; and when we realize that the people of North America, Great Britain, France, and Germany are the greatest consumers of this food, we are inclined to believe the statement to be true. The average person in the United States eats about 180 pounds of meat a year. With a population approaching one hundred million people, it can be easily understood that an enormous number of animals must be slaughtered for food each year.

Fig. 3. Fattening cattle in a Western feed lot. Photograph by courtesy

The Farmer.

There is also another important source of food from animals, that of milk and its products. Cattle have been so improved since domestication began, that today we have cows producing remarkable fields of milk. A ^ield of 5000 pounds of milk a year is very common; a large number of cows have produced 10,000 pounds; a \4eld of 15,000 pounds of milk in a year from a single animal is no longer remarkable. Milk is a very nutritious liquid food, and suppUes a place in human diet as does no other substance. From milk is manufactured cheese, a valuable food that in Europe very generally takes the place of meat among the laboring classes. Butter, also a product of milk, is so greatly in demand that thousands of creameries engage in its production. In 1910, there were twenty milhon cows and heifers kept in the United States, primarily for milk. Five states had over one million dairy cows each.

The use of animals for labor, no doubt dates from prehistoric days when man subdued the horse. With the culti-

Fig. 4. A miniature ox team in West Virginia. Photograpli by Warren Booker.

vation of the fields, both cattle and horses became beasts of burden and laborers in the fic^lds. Cattle are commonly used for labor in parts of Europe, even dairy cows sometimes being employed to draw loads. Oxen were much uschI in pioneer days for draft work in America, but have been generally discardcnl on account of t\mv slowness, yet even today th(^y may be scu^n serving in place of li(>rs(*s in sonu^ parts of our country. In tlu^ ])i()ne(M" s(Mil(MiuMi( of .VnuMMca, the ox team proved a very important means of transport ation through the forests and across the wide Western prairies. The great endurance, steady habits, and ease of keep, make the ox a favorite with the pioneer.

In countries other than our own, where railways do not exist, the transportation of freight must be done by animals, or on the shoulders of men. In many countries the people use the backs of animals for this purpose. In northern Africa, the camel is known as ^Hhe ship of the desert,'' for on his back is carried both man and freight from the interior to the coast. In parts of Asia, the elephant becomes a mighty beast of burden, performing wonderful draft service. The little donkey, regarded in America as simply a plaything for children, is widely used over the world as a burden bearer. Thus we see that domestic animals, even today, play a very important part in moving merchandise and performing labor. Although modern methods of transportation care for enormous quantities of freight, the fact is that the demand for the work horse does not diminish. The draft work on our farms must be very largely accomplished by the horse ; while even in the city, in spite of the expensive motor truck, the horse is considered indispensable in a large amount of business. Professor T. F. Hunt states* that in England it is estimated that two horses will cultivate 80 acres of light and sandy soil, or 60 acres of heavy, or clay, soil. In the United States, it appears that one horse or mule of working age is kept for every 30 acres of improved land; but in level prairie sections, far more service than this indicates is expected.

The use of domestic animals in maintaining soil fertility has long been recognized as of great importance. The earliest writers on agriculture, who hved just prior to the Christian era, about two thousand years ago, wrote more or

♦Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Vol. Ill, 1908, p. 11.

less of the value of manures in keeping the soil fertile. The farmer of those days learned from experience that if he took a crop from the land one year, that the next harvest from the same soil would be smaller unless manure was used to replace the fertility removed in the crop. Thus we see that 20 centuries ago the farmer learned that he must replace fertility in his soil if he expected to reap abundant harvests. To secure this necessary fertiUty, he used the manure provided by farm animals, and much was written about the value of the excrement from different kinds of animals, and the preservation of manures.

In very recent times, artificial fertilizers have come into extensive use. But in spite of this fact, the natural manures of animals have been absolutely necessary to keep up the fertility of the soil of most regions where high-class farming is practiced. There are lands in Europe today, said to have been cultivated for 2000 years, that grow great crops, made possible by the use of animal manures. This statement may be accepted as a fact, that, except in the case of some great river valleys, Hke the Nile, which are enriched by annual overflow, no agricultural region has continued to grow abundant harvests without the aid of manure from domestic animals. Each year the wheat fields of Canada and the corn fields of the Mississippi Valley yield in reduced amounts per acre, unless fertihty replaces that removed by the crop. Experience has also shown that where farmers keep the most live stock, there the crops are most abundant and the peo])le most prosperous.

We purchase commercial fertilizers to restore fertility to the soil; but these lack one thing of great imix)rtanc(^ found in stable manures, and that is vt^getable mattiM', wliich is as necessary to the soil as is the chemical nutriment. The rotted manure in the soil makes it more porous and mellow and permits the entrance of air and the growth of roots through it more freely than occurs where no vegetable mould is present. Interesting experiments conducted for more than 70 continuous years on the same land, in England, at Rothamsted experiment station, showed that wheat grown on unmanured land yielded just about 12 bushels per acre, while a yield of about 40 bushels occurred where stable manure was used. A ton of average stable manure is considered to contain about $2.50 worth of plant food. Professor Roberts has figured that the average value of the manure produced by a cow each day is eight cents, while that of a horse is worth about a half cent less. The value of stable manure, however, depends upon the feed the animal gets. Feed rich in grain makes a more valuable manure than that from hay only, and so will return more fertility to the soil.

The animal is a machine for changing coarse into fine material. The ideal kind of farming combines the growing of grass and grain and the feeding of these to the animals of the farm. These raw crops are thus converted into concentrated and high priced products, as represented in meat, milk, butter, cheese, or breeding stock. A large percentage of the food consumed returns to the farm to keep up its fertihty. Some forms of stock farming remove but very little of the actual soil fertility. One reason why dairy-cattle farming meets with so much favor is because of the small amount of fertility sold from the farm in milk or butter. Professor Vivian states^ that the fertilizing value of a ton of butter is but 44 cents, and that 5000 pounds of milk contain but $4.89 worth of fertility. As much as 80

♦Bulletin 56, Cornell University experiment station. tFirst Principles of Soil Fertility, 1908, p. 120-121.

or 85 per cent of the value of the food or crop becomes animal excrement, and thus is returned to the soil for its up-building. When, as in case of dairy-cattle farming, much more grain is fed than is grown on the farm, then the land steadily improves in its producing capacity. The best examples of intelhgent general farming are to be found where herds and flocks are kept as important features of a well-balanced farm system. Where the special business is stock farming, then the final product in its concentrated form will yield far

Fig. 5. Sheep on a Scotch mountainside, with no vegetation but grass. Photograph by the author.

more important and profitable returns in the long run than will any other method. One hundred acres of grain shipped a thousand miles require a large expenditure of labor and money, while this same crop, in the form of a concentrated product like butter or meat, may be transported at relatively much less expense.

Stock farming is adapted to the cheaper and rougher lands. Much land that might not bo used for other purposes can be devoted to pasturing farm animals. The grass on the hills is usually finer and sweeter than on the lowlands. In various parts of the world where the land is naturally poor or of a rough character, stock farming is an important industry. In fact, no other kind of farming is so well adapted to these conditions. On the Cheviot Hills of Scotland, the principal industry is that of sheep raising, grass and sheep being the two crops. In S^vitzerland, high up oii the mountain sides are pastures which annually furnish feed for many dairy cows. On the rough, cheap hillsides of New England, dair}^ cattle are the most important source of income to the farmer. On the high, grassy hills of eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, are to be found the largest flocks of sheep in this country east of the Missouri River.

In the Southwest and far West of the United States, on the cheaper rolling or broken lands, will be found extensive herds and flocks. In the Northwest, among the cut-over lands that have been deprived of their timber by the lumbermen, dairy cattle and dairymen are being developed on a greater scale than elsewhere in America. In fact the farmer generally plans on the use of his cheaper, poorer lands as pasture for stock. Rightly handled, these lands in most cases greatly increase in producing capacity and value. Inasmuch as live stock also finds an appropriate place on the more fertile and level farms, we must recognize the fact that animals are adapted to greater extremes of soil and land conditions than are the staple crops. Thus animals in a worldwide sense, become subjects of great importance and interest.

Chapter II The Breeds Of Horses

The origin of the horse was for many years not well understood. It used to be thought that the domestic horse was descended from the wild ass that lived in Africa and Asia. It is now pretty well agreed that the horse of today is descended from animals that hved in past geological times. Fossil remains of horses have been found in different parts of North and South America and in Europe. These are kno\vn as prehistoric horses, because they lived on the earth before man left any recorded history.

The prehistoric horse in the earliest geological times, say three million years ago, was very small. He was probably about as big as a fox terrier, and is known as the ^Ma^vn horse.'' During the development of the earth's surface, the prehistoric horse passed through gradual and very important changes. There was an increase in size, and his body, legs, and head became more and more like those of the modern horse. Many parts of the skeletons of these early horses have been found in North America, especially in the far West, in Wyoming and the Bad Lands of that station. Scientific men have put the fossil parts of these horses together so completely that their development is clearly understood. From this first period up to the last, skc^letons more or less complete have been found, showing the grathial increase in size and change of character through which this prehistoric horse passed.

So we know that the horse has HvchI in America for millions of years. Just when the first domesticated ones o .

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^ o developed here, however, we do not know unless from those brought here from Europe by Columbus and the early explorers.

How human beings came to use the horse, we do not know. It is thought that man first used wild ones for food,

Fig. 7. A wild pony captured in central Asia, owned by the New York Zoological Park. Photograph by courtesy Dr. W. T. Hornaday, Director.

and later for carrying burdens. We have some forms of ponies at the present time that are supposed to be closely related in appearance to the more recent pn^historic horse. Some years ago in central Asia, true wild horsc^s of j)()ny size

2G BEGINNINGS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

were discovered by a famous Russian explorer. These and the rough ponies of Iceland and northern Europe are probably closely related to the latest form of prehistoric horses.

The development of the breeds of horses has been due to different conditions. Climate, food, and man, have each had a very important influence. A mild climate and abundant food no doubt caused the horse to become gradually larger than where the climate was cold and food not abundant. The Shetland pony comes from a region in the North Sea where the weather is very severe and food is never plentiful. So this pony on its native island is very small. In his American home, however, on the Western prairie, where food is abundant, and the chmate mild, he develops into a greater size. The horses from hot climates have always been more active than those from cold. Thus in northern Africa, the Arab horse has developed into an animal full of grace and activity. So we see that breeds probably gradually developed in certain locahties, and that different causes helped to bring about the final result. There are many breeds of horses and ponies in different parts of the world. The following, however, are the only ones common in America, that should especially interest us.

The Arab horse originated in the desert region of northern Africa, where he has been kno^vn since long before the time of Christ. The Arab is a saddle horse, but usually is a pony in size. The horses from Arabia and the Orient have had a great deal to do with the improvement of the horse in Europe. Between 1700 and 1800, many Oriental horses were taken to England. Their blood was mingled with the horses of that country, and especially with the race horse type, by which a great improvement in form and speed was secured. Arab horses should be from 14 to 14)^ hands high, have beautiful, intelligent heads; backs especially suited to the saddle;

and have strong, muscular quarters and legs. The pure Arabian may be gray, white, bay, chestnut, or black. He is not of special value in America. He was first brought here about 150 years ago, though but few pure-bred ones are here now. The white or spotted horses often seen with circuses, are rarely pure-bred, and perhaps come from Turkey, Barbary, or elsewhere in the Orient, or have been foaled in America.

The Thoroughbred horse is of British breeding. In early days in England the horse was used largely for war. He had to be strong, in order to carry men who wore heavy coats of mail. After armor became unpopular, the people began to make more use of horses for other purposes. King James the First, at the beginning of the 17th century, estabHshed the race track, and since then horse racing has been very popular in that country and in France. It was then that the development of the Thoroughbred began. The people wanted a race horse. They took their native hght horses that showed speed and improved them by the use of Arab, Turk, and other racing blood imported from Africa, Turkey, and France. The people became much interested in breeding these running horses, and as a result, developed the Thoroughbred into the fastest and best-bred horse in the world. Three imported Oriental horses, the Darley Arabian, the Byerly Turk, and the Godolphin Barb playc^d a most important part in improving the early race-horse stock in England. Descended from these were three Englisii-bred horses, Herod, Eclipse, and Matchem, that are very famous ancestors of modern Thoroughbreds. This breed of horses has a fine, lean, medium-sized head; a long, slender, neck; a narrow, deep chest; a kmg, sloping shoulder; a short, strong back; very kmg, muscular hind parts; and legs that are short, lean, and strcmg, with the best of leet. 'J'lu^ skin is thin, and

BEGINXIXGS IX ANIMAL HUSBAXDRY the hair fine and silky. The most desired height is 15 to 153/^ hands, and the most common colors are bay, brown, chestnut, or black, though there are other colors. A fine disposition and great courage are features of this noted breed. The Thoroughbred was first brought to America in 1730, and since then until recently, large numbers have been imported. This horse is raced under the saddle with a man called a jockey on his back. The fastest record of a race of any sort was made by Salvator, who in New Jersey in 1890

ran a mile in 1 : 353^.

Thoroughbreds have sold for enormous sums.

Flying Fox having brought the highest price ever paid for a horse, of $187,500. The Thoroughbred has been much bred in America in the past to improve our racing stock, but at present he is little used, except in running races where gambling is encouraged. As betting at horse races is a violation of the law in most states today, this has done much to discourage the breeding of Thoroughbreds in America. In England and France, conditions are different. This breed has had a great history, and it is unfortunate that it cannot be popular in America, except as connected with gambling.

The American Saddle Horse is a breed that has developed in the United States, especially in Virginia, Kentucky , Tennessee, and Missouri. Its ancestry comes ^\ith the minghng of the blood of the Tlioroughbred and well made, easy-

Fig. 8. Hanover, a famous Thoroughbred sire. Photograph by the author.

moving, native saddle stock. A Thoroughbred horse named Denmark, sired by an imported horse, was one of the most famous early sires of this breed. The American Saddle Horse shows much style in carriage of head and arch of neck and tail. He stands from 15 to 153/2 hands high, and often

Fig. 9. Kentucky's Choico, a model Amorir-an Saddlo Horse. Photograph

by courtesy The Farmer.

weighs about 1000 pounds. His most frequent colors ar(^ bay, brown, or black. This brecnl of horses is growing iTiorci and more into favor on account of its (^xireinely easy gait. Saddlers may Ix^. divided into two classes. One has the walk-trot-canter gaits common with all saddle horses. The other class has five gaits, the walk-trot-canter, the rack, and the running walk or fox trot, gaits especially found with this breed. If a horse can show these five gaits, he is called a gaited horse. If he has only the first three, he is known as plain gaited. American saddle horses are in great demand, and when of high class, and educated to show their gaits well, bring high prices.

The American Trotter or Pacer has its parentage dating from the light-weight trotting and running horses of Great Britain first brought to America. One of these, a Thoroughbred named Messenger, imported in 1788, through his greatgrandson, Hambletonian 10, did much for trotting blood. For many years we have had in this country a class of horses of the hght harness type, that are commonly known as trotters. They were so called because, when they moved faster than a walk, their gait was a trot, a movement of the front foot on one side and the hind foot on the opposite side at about the same time. The pacer moves back or forward at the same time, the feet on the same side of the body. The pace is about three seconds faster as a gait than the trot. Occasionally a horse may be taught to trot or pace as desired. Some famous race horses have both trotting and pacing records. The trotter or pacer is not a true example of a breed, because he has been mixed so much in the past in this country, with all kinds of blood ancestry. The principal idea seems to have been to get speed. Trotters of this sort are often referred to as ^^ Standard Bred.'' That means that they have official records of 2:30 (2 minutes, 30 seconds), or better, or are from stock registered in the American Trotting Register. A nice type of trotter or pacer should weigh around 1000 pounds, and have a lean,intenigent head; a refined and graceful neck; sloping, well laid shoulders; be narrow on top over the shoulders; have a strong, fairly level back; a muscular rump mth tail set high; a deep, round body; and legs short, clean, and fine boned and good feet. This horse picks up his feet with snap, and moves off smoothly and easily. The coat is of different colors, with bay or brown most common. The disposition is generally good, though it naturally varies. This American-bred horse is the fastest trotter in the world. Uhlan holds the world's trotting record for the mile, in the time of 1 :58 (one minute, 58 seconds); and Dan Patch the pacing record of 1 :5534 for the same distance. During 100 years, from August 25, 1810, when a horse named Boston trotted a mile in 2:48H, to October 9, 1912, when Uhlan trotted a mile in 1:58, the mile trotting record was reduced 50 seconds, or an average of about one-half second a year. Lou Dillon, a beautiful little