J^aMtjzA
VOL. LVIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, SEPT. 26, 1903.
NO. 39
£itpcriet*cje gepartro-eiit
WHAT KIlvD OF LIVESTOCK IS THE SUREST
PROFIT PRODUCER. ON THE FARM,
AND WHY?
Prefers Hogs, if on a  Corn Farm.
lst Premium.—The answer to this ques-
lia.ii, which is a very important one for
•very fanner who raises stoek, depends
upon certain conditions. It eannot be
answered once for all. We are not all
adapted to do the same thing with success. We do not all like the same occupation. Again, our farms are aalapt.il
for different purposes. Probably there
is no farmer but should keep some live
stock, ami I am surca that our country
woulil be much better off if we all had
our farms stocked to their limit. We
should then be building up our farms, in-
stead of robbing our soils of fertility.
I can answer this question from my
own experience and conditions. My farm
is adapted to live stock, especially hogs
and  eattle. If we were to devote  our
attention to cattle, we would find that a
caiw costing from $40 to $50 would raise
a calf worth from $15 to $20 at six or
eit-liL months of! age. It requires considerable feed for a eow, besides two or
three acres of pasture. If the cow does
im more than raise the calf, ami we figure
aan high priced land, wie will find that
we would no more than get good rent out
of our land. If we should feed cattle,
our profit will deiiend largely upon the
market. One bushel of corn will put five
or six pounds of fat on a steer, and anyone
knows that, at the present prices of corn
and beef that would be a losing transaction.
Some consider sheep a sure moneymaker. It is true that they will make
,i good profit on rough, cheap land, and
,!,. so with but little care. They require
but little grain, getting their living on
pasture in summer and, rough feed in
winter. The wool from a sheep will
usually pay for its keep. The profit then
will come from the gain in weight and increase of flock. This will not be a very
great profit, but it is a fairly sure one.
Even in this State there are many farms
that produce but little corn, and upon
Ihem sheep will be found to be the live
stock   that   will   furnish  the  surest  profit.
On a farm that will produce good corn
in abundance the hog will be found to be
th.* surest profit producer ,ome year with
another. Experimental feeding has been
carried on to such an extent with hogs
that it is pretty well demonstrated that a
l.usliel of caarn will make ten poumls aif
pork. If hogs are on pasture, then the
K-iin from a l.usliel of corn will be much
iiiiiii-. Thus the hog will pay well for
the pasture and make good money out of
th,* corn. Corn can hardly get too high
tu be feal to hogs without profit. Another valuable thing that we must give
Hi,* hog credit for is that he is ready for
Hi,, market almost any time, and for that
reason we can take advantage of a High
market, whereas we could not in feeding
cattle or sheep. Quicker money can be
ma ale from hogs than f)-om any other
farm animals. A small investment can
soon abe increased. Our money is not
tied np for a year or so at a time, and
thus we save interest. In feeding cattle,
ihe luag often comes in for the only profit. Considering everything, we are com-
I..1U-.I to say that the hog is the surest
profit producer for many reasons. He
can make more pounds of meat out of a
given  amount  of grain-.        He  is  ready
for market at most any time. He will
live and grow fat on waste product! of
the limn that other stock will not mt.
Ha' will bring Iha' top price if fat. litis tin- quickest m.aiicy-maker of all. The
first investment is small, aud the care
necessary is less than tliat for other stuck.
II.* multiplies rapidly, and we need only
to give him plenty of good feed, dry quarters and pure water, and he will do the
rest. J. H. B.
Mingle wood Farm.
a small bunch of clover hay, hauling in a
little bunch of shielded (odder. You
will only mi'd enough feed to take your
iheep through about three montha in the
winter, and a lillie oats or wheal lii'an
lo feed when their la mains are small ,to
aial them iii giving a gond quantity and
quality of milk.
N'a.w consider the gain per cent be-
l wa'a'ii your hogs and sheep. Wheu you
deduct your cost of feed you give your
hoga   from   the   time   your   sow   farrows
cattle become bloated on wet clover or
succ.inib to other diseases, your flock of
sheep, if kept replenished each year by
keeping lamhs f.ar bleeding ewes, and selling out the oldest awas, will hardly ever
mill any can* aiu account of sickness.
These an- a few of the reasons why I consider the shaap the surest profit producer
am  the larui. Subscriber.
Kosciusko Co.
Conm-r'.s Mill, built in 1840, Grant Co., Ind.
Considers Sheep the Surest.
2d Premium.—As far as my experience
extends, I have found tliat my surest profit producer on the farm is my bunch of
sheep. While I reap some profit from
my hogs, cattle and .horses, I do not realize the clear per cent from any of these
that I do from my sheep.
In the first place, you must understand
that my aim is to keep good stock of all
kinds. I  have no registered  stock  but
keep good Poland China hogs, Durham
cattle,     Norman  horses  and     Shropshire
-*lla*ep.
I have a Iwnch of sheep consisting ot
10 ewes and one male. Ou the bunch
I realized on last spring's wool $1.30 per
head, and have on hands 15 lambs. My
lambs came in the first half of April and
I haal good success in raising them, and
tney will now weigh about 80 pounds.
I have them engaged for the last half of
November for 5 cents per pound, which I
believe will bring me the neat sum of
$80 or more.
Yaau may now consider the cost of keeping my different kinds of stock. First,
take the feeding of the hogs. You are
obliged to feed them grain of some kind
the year round, or else have an excellent
field of clover for them, and even then
they will do no fast growing without some
milk or grain. They would only just
live and make but very little growth on
chaver that sheep would fatten on. I do
n.at very aaftan pasture my sheep on clover;
I have a bluegrass pasture which I keep
them on. Then one is not only compelled to feed his hogs the yoar round,
but must keep horses to aid him in raising a year's feed ahead for them, while
faar sheep you only need a team to aial
yam  iir mowing and  hauling to  tiie barn
till yuur bogs ar.* ready fair marki-t, yon
must economia— closely, aud not consider
your time worth too much, if you have
enough left to pay you for your labor aual
risk, while on my buueh of sheep I received enough to pay for their keeping
Air a year from their wool crop alone,
and when I sell my lambs they will give
me a net profit of 125 per cent on the
amount of capital invested, and that is
BOt estimating the rate too high.
Now consider the cost of the cows. In
the first place, the sheep will live on pasture and fatten where cattle will starve,
and when winter comes you are obliged
to feed your cattle both grain and rough
feed for about five months, which is almost alouble the time the average farmer
feeds his sheep. And it would be well
to look at the amount of feed it takes for
both accoraling to their value. For a
a aaw lhat is giving milk in the winter,
yaau an* obliged to give her enough fleed
to keep her in good flesh and to produce
a /.-"aail flow of milk. This same amount
of deed, if given to sheep, would feed 10
ewa-s through their feeding season, and.
keep them in a condition that would make
the butcher's eyes twinkle. And I believe you would have feed left.
Now take the farm horse. It takes
a ;*re.-it amount of time, labor and lVed
to keep him in a state to stand his work.
If he works the year roll nal steady, his
net profit to his owner is still very small,
according to his high valuation and the
expense   of  keeping  him.
Now consider the disease prevalent
among the stock of our state. While the
cholera thins out your bunch of hogs and
barely leaves you enough for a start again,
and your horse becomes blemished and
worthless, or dies from disease, and your
The Hog is the Mortgage Lifter.
3d Premium.—If I knew the kind of a
farm you have and its capacity for corn, I
could write more intelligently upon this
subject. Different kinds of stock need
different kinds of food. The hog is a
grain eating animal, and if your farm is
iain* that will raise corn and clover, and
plenty of it, I would place the hog at the
heaal of tin* list in Indiana. You may
talk about raising hogs to a profit with
other kinds of feed, but I will pin my
faith to corn and clover. I do not mean
that you should not give your hogs some
side dishes, and especially while they are
pigs. The hog has always been considered the mortgage lifter, and is to-day,
if you have a hog farm. "Hello, there!"
says John Jones, "what about the cholera V You get your corn into your hog,
and he dies, and your corn and hog are
both game; but your mortgage sticks tight-
ar than a brother." Yes, but we need
hava- but little cholera, if we persevere in
sanitary   measures. I   have   bred   and
raised hogs for 40 years, and have only
had two slight attacks of cholera in that
time, and that was when my sanitary con-
aiitious were not good, and I knew it,
but could not remedy them under the circumstances.
You can get your money out of your
grain aud clover fed to hogs in a shorter
time than from any animal - that you
can feed it to, except the milk exvw where
yam sell the milk and butter. I,et us figure a little. Suppose you have a sow,
mare, cow and ewe on hands, old enough
to breed. How soon can you get their
aaffspring into cash? Take the sow first.
If bred the first day of November in 13
months you can have her pigs in market
at   nine  months  old.
The sheep comes next, ami, unless you
sill the lambs from the ewes, it will take
17 months to get a yearling. The cow
comes next, and it will take you two years
ami nine months to get a two-year-old into market. Now comes the mare. It will
take five years and eleven months to get
a five-year-old horse into the market. Now
if you will sum i*p the interest on the
investment, and the labor, care and feed,
on the difference in time, you can add
a  large  per cent  to your  hog.
First class corn land in Indiana to-day
shaiulal bring one hundred dollars per acre
flor farm purposes, and the good farmer
should make a good per cent on it raising
hogs; but this is rather foreign to the sub-
ja*ct.
While my experience tells me that on
the average farm in the corn belt the hog
is the surest profit producer and I should
raise him for quick ready money, yet I
woulal not raise hogs alone, for hogs cannot consume your straw, fodder or hay.
Farming must produce these products, and
so you need cattle and horses to consume
your coarse feed. And the sheep is no
slouch upon the farm. They will use up
a portion of your fodder to advantage,
and perchance nip the bud from the ruthless weed and briar and check its wild
career.
Continued on page 9, column 2.