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Show LIVESTOCK NOTES I Los Angeles, California, "June 1, 193C It is gratifying to look back over the past and see the advancement advance-ment made by the livestock industry. in-dustry. Appeals by those vitally interested in better livestock and more purebreds, have not gone unheeded, un-heeded, as evidenced by a definite improvement in meat and meat products as well as breeding stock. Improvement of livestock involves in-volves time and expense. Often it is impracticable to raise large numbers num-bers experimentally. However, the same fundamental principles apply to both plants and animals and it has been definitely established that genetic factors involving disease resistance, performance, ability to reproduce, growth and size can be obtained through sensible methods of breeding and selection. Success in this field rests on two major factors . . . introduction of proper foundation stock, and right breeding breed-ing methods. Where there is failure fail-ure to systematize the breeding, resulting conditions will all' contribute contri-bute toward a smaller profit for the produrer. Much research has been done in regard to the relationship of out side conformation and the size of internal organs. Much variation has been found in size of these internal in-ternal organs between animals of contagious disease. We are all and practice informs one as to the means of. obtaining maximum production pro-duction economically. . It is needless to mention the work done in an effort to check contagious diseasese. We are all aware of the danger of tuberculosis, tubercu-losis, Bang's disease, chplera and innumerable other diseases. Ex tensive work is being done by the United States department of agriculture agri-culture in checking disease in all classes of livestock. In the ease of the much dreaded foot-and-mouth disease, quarantine measures have saved the country $100,000,000 annually. an-nually. This speaks for itself. ' Since the major objective in production pro-duction of hogs, sheep and beef cattle is meat, the real test of the advancement of the livestock ' industry in-dustry is the improvement of the quality of this product. Investigations Investi-gations have been conducted to determine de-termine the factors influencing the quality and palatability of meat, for these in turn determine the rate of consumption. As an example, ex-ample, with fattened hogs, as the final feed-lot weight and finish increases to between 145 and 225 pounds, the cooked meat showed a gradual though small improvement in tenderness, in flavor of lean and in the quality of the juice. When hogs are carried to heavier weights and greater finish there is a decline in these characteristics and no further improvement. The general li-vestoek situation is fundamentally sound. Farmers nave reduced their hog production, and the purchase of drouth beef cattle by the government helped to adjust cattle production. The object ob-ject of these adjustments makes for stabilizing production, distribution distri-bution and consumption. There is an idea that cultivated land should be turned back to pasture pas-ture grass and forage in order ;to increase the production of livestock and livestock products. With seventy per cent of our total crop land devoted exclusively to livestock' live-stock' feeds, such a move would tend to materially reduce livestock numbers. Nevertheless, since the value of good pasture has many times been proven, it is advisable to enter upon a constructive program pro-gram of pasture improvement. The economic soundness of such a move is evident. i n |