A study of farm animals

Front matter

Class Book.

GopiglitM"-

CfiEQilClir DEPOSIT.

Foreword

During the past decade the subject of agricultural education for our secondary schools and colleges has received much attention. Prior to this period a number of general texts on agriculture for schools, elementary in character, prepared by men trained in general science or classics, were published. These texts had a limited distribution, partly because of lack of interest in the subject by teachers and pupils, and partly because of the methods of presentation. These authors saw no way of handling the subject, excepting by a more or less stereotyped style, in which chemistry, or some natural science, furnished the reasoning basis.

The establishment of agricultural colleges, equipped with farms, and working laboratories of greenhouses, orchards, gardens, field crops, and stables with their contents of farm animals and utensils, paved the way to a new and interesting treatment of agricultural subjects. The introduction of popular short winter courses about 1890, was the first important step in this direction. Simple laboratory exercises in dairjdng, horticulture, and live-stock judging, appealed to students, and added much to the popularity of the instruction. As an outgrowth of these has come the great popular movement in America in behalf of agricultural education. Not only the colleges, but many secondary schools have adopted agricultural courses, and some have been equipped with farms and laberalpries, "^^ere the students are taught the relationship of prmciples to farm practice.

The evolution in agricultural education has been associated with the development of texts that have covered a wide range of instruction, and which have supplied a vital interest quite lacking in most of the books published prior to the year 1900. In fact, wc have a new agricultural litcrature, the direct outgrowth of recent methods of education in the agricultural college, as well as the investigations of our experiment stations.

To meet what was regarded as a real need in secondary schools and short courses, in 1912 the author prepared a book entitled "Beginnings in Animal Husbandry," the first text of its kind in this field of education, prepared for students below college grade. The reception given this volume by educators was very gratifying to the author. In the passing years, however, much new material has accumulated, and courses of study have been introduced that were not generally given in 1912, and for which no provisions were made in ''Beginnings in Animal Husbandry." The author has, therefore, seen fit to prepare a new text, that should more fully meet present needs. It not only discusses the feeding, care, and management of animals with some detail, as applied to horses, cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry, but considers other subjects of present-day importance. These include community breeding, something about wool, boys' and girls' live-stock clubs, co-operative live-stock shipping, and culling the poultry flock. It also contains besides these, all the more important matter relative to breeding, the breeds, and judging, as set forth in the first text. ''Beginnings in Animal Husbandry" consisted of 28 chapters, including 393 pages and 217 illustrations, while the present text contains 44 chapters, 540 pages and 256 illustrations.

In conclusion the author would quote the final sentence of the Foreword in "Beginnings in Animal Husbandry" : "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, farm animals."

Ohio State University Charles S. Plumb

Columbus, Ohio June 1, 1922.

Table Of Contents

Chapter Page

I. The Importance of Farm Animals .... 9

II. Heredity: Its Meaning antd Influence ... 21

Chapter I The Importance Of Farm Animals

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

Figure 1. — Hereford bull, Avondale, champion at the 1914 Royal Agricultural Society Show, England, exhibited by King George V. Photograph by the author.

world's affairs. Between many people, and even nations, and their domestic animals, we find an affectionate, sympathetic relationship. The people of Great Britain, the world's leading stockmen, from the King and Queen to the humblest laborer, show a keen and kindly interest in everything relating to farm live stock. One of the most interesting sights to be seen in Em"ope is the annual show of the Royal Agricultm-al Society of England, where Kve stock is made the leading featiu'e, 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 sjTiipathetic quahties, 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 more S}TQpathetic 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. The study of animals as relating to farm economy and the markets of the world becomes, therefore, a most important matter.

The commercial importance 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. According to the report of the United States Census, on January 1, 1920, the farm animals in this countrj^ made the following shoeing in numbers.

Class of Live Stock Number

Other cattle* 48,031,000

194,012,000

By these figures we see that we had in 1920 about 195 miUion animals on our farms, a number far too big to comprehend. The significant thing is simply to reahze the vastness of our live-stock industry, and the enormous sum of

*Include5 beef cattle of various kinds and oxen.

money here invested, besides the value of the animals themselves. The greatest hve-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, Oklahoma, and Texas. The two states of most importance in numbers of each kind of Uve stock in the United States in 1920 are as follows:

Horses f Iowa first, with 1,386,000 head

1 Nebraska second, with 1,322,000 "

Mules ( Texas first, with 849,000 "

\ Georgia second, with 407,000 "

Milch cows / Wisconsin first, with 2,763,000 "

\ New York second, with 2,081,000 "

Other cattle/ Texas first, with 4,768,000 "

\ Iowa second, with 3,048,000 "

Sheep / Texas first, with 2,552,000 "

\ California second, with 2,400,000 "

Swine / Iowa first, with 7,864,000 "

\ Illinois second, with 4,640,000 "

We see from the above that Iowa ranks first with numbers of horses and swine, Texas with mules, sheep and other cattle, and Wisconsin with milch cows. The two states, however, that have the greatest numbers of superior farm animals of the different kinds are Iowa and Illinois.

The importance of our live 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 1920 a total of 15^ millions of farm animals, valued at over 665 millions of dollars. Nearly 268,000 car loads of live stock were received in these yards in 1920. This is equal to about 734 cars a day, which, at an average length of 36 feet to a car, would make one solid train of live stock about 5 miles long. There are 300 miles of railway in and about the yards to handle all this great traffic. Some 100,000 people live about the yards and get their daily incomes from them. Here are immense 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 1920 there were 1,897 slaughtering and meat-packing plants in the United States, in which were killed and prepared for food, under the supervision of United States inspectors, over 65 millions of farm animals. These figures are given simply to show the importance of the live-stock trade and the part it must play in American agriculture.

Figure 2. — A view in the Kansas City Stock Yards. Photograph by the author.

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. It 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. In consulting the Bible, one will find in the Book of Genesis, dating back over 2,000 years before Christ, repeated reference 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. Earliest man is supposed to have used the skins of animals for clothing, especially in the cooler regions or during the colder seasons 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 different 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 towns and cities is the converting of wool into clothing; so we find in them great mills employing thousands of people.

The use of animals for food is of first importance. It is for this purpose that cattle, sheep, and swine have been 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 give strong physical 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 150 pounds of meat a year. With a population in excess of one hundred milhon people, it can be easily understood that an enormous number of animals must be slaughtered for food each year.

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 to-day we have cows producing remarkable yields of milk. A yield of 5,000 pounds of milk a year is very common; a large number of cows have produced 10,000 pounds; a yield 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 supplies a place in human diet unequaled by any 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 1920, there were over twenty million cows and heifers kept in the United States, primarily for milk. Ten 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 cultivation of the fields, both cattle and horses became beasts of burden and laborers in the fields. Cattle are commonly used for labor in parts of Europe, even dairy cows sometimes being employed to draw loads. Oxen were much used in pioneer days for draft work in America, but have been generally discarded on account of their slowness, yet even to-day they may be seen serving in place of horses in some parts of our country. In the pioneer settlement of America, the ox team proved a very important means of transportation 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 "the ship of the desert," for on its 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 play-

Figure 3. — An ox team in Washington State. Photograph by Bert C. Thomas.

thing for children, is widely used over the world as a burden bearer of the most steady and dependable sort.

Thus it is seen that domestic animals, even to-day, play a very important part in moving merchandise and performing labor. Although the motor-truck has become an important medium for transporting freight in our towns and cities, largely replacing the horse in this service, still the work horse, and especially the one suited for heavy draft, is here in constant demand. The tractor is well adapted to certain farm operations, supplanting the horse, but this animal is yet indispensable for many purposes on our farms, and will always be an important part of farm equipment. 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 lived just prior to the Christian era, about two thousand years ago, wrote more or less of the value of manures in keeping the soil fertile. The farmer of those days learned from experience tha.t, if he took a crop from the land one year, the next harvest frona the same soil would be smaller unless manure was used to replace the fertility removed in the crop. Thus we see that twenty centuries ago the farmer learned that he must replace fertility in his soil if he expected to reap abundant harvests. To secure this necessary fertility, 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 fertiUty of the soil of most regions where high-class farming is practiced. There are lands in Europe to-day, said to have been cultivated for 2,000 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

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

of some great river valleys, like 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 fertility replaces that removed by the crop. Experience has also shown that, where farmers keep the most five stock, there the crops are most abundant and the people most prosperous.

We purchase commercial fertihzers to restore fertility to the soil; but these lack one thing of great importance found in stable manures, and that is vegetable matter, which 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 where no vegetable mould is present. Interesting experiments conducted for more than seventy 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 regarded as containing 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 8 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

♦Bulletin 56, Cornell University Experiment Station.

of the food consumed returns to the farm to keep up its fertility. Some forms of stock farming remove but very Uttle 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 5,000 pounds of milk contain but $4.89 worth of fertility. As much as 80 or 85 per cent of the value of the food or crop becomes animal excrement, and which under a progressive system of agriculture is returned to the soil for its upbuilding.

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 intelligent 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 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.

Live stock farming is adapted to the cheaper and rougher lands. Much land that might not be 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 Switzerland, high up on the mountain sides are pastures which annually furnish feed

*First Principles of Soil Fertility, 1908, p. 120-121.

for many dairy cows. On the rough, cheap hillsides of New England, dairy 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

Figure 4. — Fat cattle on Ohio hills. Photograph by the author.

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 world-wide sense become subjects of great importance and interest.

The class of people handling livestock, as a iul(^, represents the more intelligent and progressive farnieis of the conunimity. Their homes and farm buildings indicate comfort and prosperity, when compared with wliat one sees on farms where hve stock is not a part of the system of management. There is a pride in the ownership of a fine herd that creates a desire on the part of the owner to improve and beautify his home. Thus he becomes interested in commimity welfare, and often renders ser^rice of a pubhc nature that is much to his credit. The most beautiful and attractive farm homes one sees in traveling through England and Scotland, are occupied by men who are owners of fine flocks and herds. In the United States the same condition prevails, whether we are in the blue-grass region of Kentucky, or the wide prairies of Illinois and Iowa, or the alfaKa fields of Kansas and Colorado. Should we not. therefore, do all we can to create an interest in farm animals, and thus develop a higher class of citizenship amongst us?

DO YOU KNOW

1. What people are especially interested in live stock?

2. How many farms animals we have in the United States?

3. WTiat states lead in numbers of each kind of live stock?

4. How many car loads of stock enter Chicago market daily?

5. "VMien man first domesticated animals?

6. How much meat we eat per capita a year?

7. WTiat cattle are used for labor?

8. How live stock is related to farm fertility?

9. What a ton of stable manure is worth? 10, How the anunal resembles a machine?

Chapter II Heredity: Its Meaning And Influence

The word heredity has long been used by scientific men when discussing the important subject of breeding animals and plants. As commonly defined, it means the reproduction in the offspring of the characteristics of the parents. It means more than that, however, because the parentage of an animal or plant extends further back than one generation.

The degree or extent that characteristics may be inherited from parents, grandparents, and more distant generations, can not be absolutely determined. Yet, that animals and plants do inherit from other generations than the parents, is a matter of common knowledge. In fact, everything found in the animal, whether physical or mental, excepting certain diseases, has been transmitted through previous generations. We know that under average conditions there is a certain degree of resemblance between an animal and its various ancestors. Yet there are conditions which greatly affect heredity. Writing on ''the complex nature of heredity," Davenport says:* ''The most disconcerting principle in all improvement operations lies back of the obvious fact that the offspring is not like the parent. Having two parents, he could not of course be like them both. The fact is, however, that for the most part he is not like either one of them, nor yet is he like the two combined. The most that can be said is that the offspring resembles his parents, and that all his characters are to be found somewhere in his parentage."

The persistence of heredity is a most important factor in its influence on the offspring. The older and better established the family, the more uniform and certain is the transmission. We say that an animal, family, breed, or

♦Domesticated Animals and Plants, 11)10, p. Ifj-l.

race that transmits its special characteristics with much certainty, is prepotent. This word suggests power, and really means superior influence. Wild animals and birds represent the purest and most prepotent breeding. They live and develop under conditions that are most natural and uniform, thus resulting in the least change. One wild fox differs but little from other wild foxes of the same kind in form, color, and mental traits. In the opinion of scientists they must have had these characters for a great length of time. The same conclusion applies to any other one species, the product of wild conditions.

The most prepotent domestic animals are those that have been bred pure for long generations. A breed like Hereford cattle, the family relationship of which can be traced back for a hundred years, represents a comparatively well-established type and character. In a herd of these cattle we should expect to find the typical horn and head, the blocky form, the red body and white face, brisket, tail, and feet color so universally known. We have examples, however, of old breeds that have not been developed by great constructive breeders, and consequently a lack of individual excellence among a great number of the animals is found. The importance of heredity in stock breeding has long been recognized. The men who have been most noted in the development of each of the great breeds have agreed that the saying, "like produces like," contains much truth. In fact, in breeding operations they have placed a premium on prepotency and uniformity of character. Bates, the great Shorthorn breeder, was a stickler for type and character. The same may be said of any other man who has become celebrated as a breeder of superior animals. If a man wishes to produce race horses, he must use race-horse blood, in which speed has been the important feature. Great records are being made among dairy cattle to-day, and certain families are noted producer. In studjdng the history of

HEREDITY: MEANING AND INFLUENCE the development of the modern dairy cow, one will find that the inheritance of milk or butter-fat production is a great prepotent feature. This prepotency is illustrated in a striking manner in the ancestry of the Holstein-Friesian cow De Kol Creamelle. She produced 780.4 pounds of milk in a week, her daughter Creamelle Vale 750.2 pounds, her granddaughter Dutchland Colantha Vale 765.3 pounds, and her great granddaughter Dutchland Pietertje Vale 750 pounds in a week, a remarkable series of records. Anyone

Figure 5. — Hereford bull, Disturber 12th, owned by Ferguson Brothers of Minnesota. Photograph from the owners.

who attempts to establish and develop a herd without being guided by our present-day knowledge of the influence of heredity will certainly fail in his breeding operations.

The importance of an ideal in breeding can not be overestimated. Men who have done much to assist in developing breeds and have become famous in this work are commonly called ''constructive breeders." In the upbuilding of the Shorthorn, the Colling Brothers, Bates, the Booths, and

Cruickshank were all known as great constructive breeders. These men had their ideals or standards, and bred up to them as closely as possible. Two men start out with herds of cattle of equal merit. One man has ideals of what he should do. He carefully studies his cattle and the laws of heredity, and seeks constantly to improve his herd. At the end of 25 years he has a fine herd, that is a marked improvement over his foundation stock, and from which he derives much praiseworthy fame and substantial profit. The other man has no ideals or pohcy. He is satisfied with things as he receives them, he does not study his business, and, as might have been expected, his stock becomes inferior and unprofitable, he gets in debt, and ends possibly in bankruptcy. One man is a benefit to his community, the other is not; yet each had an equal chance at the start.

Certain useful and valuable forms of inheritance exist among the improved types and breeds of farm animals, and the perpetuation of these quahties is most important, if one is to make a success of breeding. Some of these forms that directly concern the stockman are the following:

(1) Color markings. One of the most important features of breed identification is the color. Some breeds possess a solid, uniform color, as the red of the Red Polled cattle, the black of the Aberdeen-Angus, the white of the Chester White and Large Yorkshire pigs, and the red of the Duroc-Jersey. Fach breed has its standard color or colors, and anything varying from this, as a rule, causes disqualification.