(5) The rearing of live stock makes it possible to arrange a better rotation of crops. A five-year and, even better, a six-year rotation, is more effective than a four-year in maintaining the crop-producing power of the soil and enables the farmer to reduce his cost of production. It is possible to keep a larger proportion of the farm in grass and other forage crops, thus reducing the amount of land plowed annually and at the same time decreasing the exhaustion of the land, provided the forage crops are fed to live stock upon the farm.

There is an old Flemish proverb which reads:

“No grass, no cattle; No cattle, no manure; No manure, no crops.”

The point of this proverb is that good grass is the basis of good agriculture. Investigations have shown that one may go farther and say that one of the most ready means of increasing the crop-producing power of the soil is by adding fertilizers to grass land. The large number of plants per acre enables the plants to utilize the fertilizer to the highest degree, and plowing under the resulting dense sod is one of the most effective methods of enriching the soil.

(6) Animals require constant care, thus making possible a more constant use of labor and other capital. The wheat farmer of North Dakota sows his wheat in April and May and harvests it in July and August. He usually threshes it immediately, and is practically without employment for himself, his teams or his men from September until April. On live stock farms the labor employed in the summer in the field is needed in the winter in paddocks and stables.

(7) The management of live stock, including the rearing of poultry and the manipulation of dairy products, may be made to require a higher skill than the production of farm crops as ordinarily practiced. The communities which have given the most attention to dairying and to the rearing and fattening of animals have generally been the most prosperous.

DISADVANTAGES OF KEEPING LIVE STOCK

(1) Keeping live stock increases the capital required to operate a given area of land, especially where animals are kept in connection with the production of hay and grain. Not only must there be capital with which to purchase animals, but usually more is invested in buildings. In a self-contained farm—that is, one which raises sufficient food for the requirements of the live stock—ten dollars an acre may be considered a moderate investment for animals. If, however, the plan is to raise only the coarse feed, while the necessary grain as well as other concentrates is largely purchased, a farm may easily carry from $25 to $35 worth of live stock per acre. Lack of capital is one of the most potent influences in preventing a larger production of animals and animal products. Cattle paper, or notes given to secure money for the purchase of fattening animals, is a common bank asset in the feeding districts of the central West.

(2) The very perishable nature of animals entails a great risk in the investment of capital in live stock. Not only the products of a single year, but the growth of a number of years, may be suddenly swept away by disease. This may include the crops of several years, thus destroying capital invested in the production of the crops as well as the capital originally invested in the animals. Many a farmer has seen the gradual accumulations of years rapidly melt away in the presence of some contagious disease. Tuberculosis in cattle, cholera in hogs and liver rot in sheep are striking examples of diseases that have caused the farmers of this country untold losses.

(3) When an animal has been properly fattened he must be sold. If held for any great length of time, not only is there a constant outlay for food to maintain the animal, but the condition of the animal may actually deteriorate. Hence it is not possible to hold animals for a better market for a long period of time, as is possible in the case of the cereal grains.