Statistics

Introduction. This chapter presents the statistics for live-stock products which were collected at the census of 1920, the figures representing the production of the calendar year 1919-the year which came to a close just preceding the date of the census. are included for young animals (calves, pigs, and lambs) raised on farms in 1919, and for domestic animals (cattle, swine, and sheep) slaughtered on farms; and an estimate of the total value of domestic animals sold or slaughtered on farms in 1919 is also presented.

The data for live-stock products are presented in four groups, comprising dairy products, wool and mohair, eggs and chickens, and honey and wax.

Comparative figures for the individual products are given for all of the earlier censuses for which they are available. In the case of butter and cheese, for example, fairly satisfactory figures are available for the farm production for each census year beginning with 1849. For other items, such as mohair produced and butter fat sold, comparative figures are available for only one or two censuses prior to 1919.

While a certain amount of information with regard to the number of dairy cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and hives of bees on farms in 1920 is given in connection with the figures for the farm products, the

reader is referred for more detailed information with regard to live stock on hand and for comparative figures, to Chapter IX, entitled "Live Stock on Farms and Elsewhere."

Farm value of live-stock products: 1919 and 1909.The Thirteenth Census schedule called for the total value as well as the total quantity of all live-stock products, whether sold or consumed on the farm. The 1909 values are therefore based directly on the reported figures. But in the Fourteenth Census schedule the question as to value in the case of dairy products, eggs, and chickens was restricted to the amounts sold. The 1919 value of butter made on farms has been computed on the basis of the average value received per pound for butter sold; the values of eggs produced and chickens raised have been computed in a similar way. The values of cheese made on farms and of honey and wax produced have been computed on the basis of average values per pound secured through the Bureau of Crop Estimates of the Department of Agriculture.

Summary for all live-stock products.-Figures are presented in Table 1 for all of the live-stock products covered by this report (except the total production of milk, which is represented by the various milk products).

DAIRY PRODUCTS.

While many farmers make the dairy business the main or an important feature of their operations, yet for the great majority it is more or less incidental, in which case only small quantities of products are available for the market. In very many cases cows are kept chiefly to supply milk and butter for the farmer's family. On many of the specialized dairy farms detailed records of dairy products are kept, so that very complete and accurate reports can be made. On the great majority of farms, however, where no dairy products are sold or where the sales are small, such records are seldom kept, and the farmers are usually able to make only rough estimates, and in many cases are unwilling to make any estimates at all.

Especial difficulty is encountered in securing reports of the total quantity of milk produced during a year, particularly because farmers frequently neglect to report the milk produced for home use or underestimate the quantity of such milk.

Dairy cows: 1920 and 1910.-In 1910 the census called for "cows and heifers kept for milk" and "cows and heifers not kept for milk." The instructions read: "Report as cows kept for milk those whose milk is used in some form for human food. Cows milked for three months during the year should be reported as kept for milk, although a part of the year they run with their calves."

In 1920 the census called for "dairy cattle" and "beef cattle." Dairy cattle were defined as those "kept mainly for milk production," and the following instructions were given the enumerators: "Classify all cattle as beef cattle or as dairy cattle according to the principal purpose for which they are kept." lu is believed that under this rule the fully established dairy and beef breeds have been properly reported, with few errors, and that cattle of the dual-purpose breeds or of no definite breeding were usually placed in one class or the other, according to the principal purpose for which they were kept.

In states where cattle are raised extensively for beef production, the 1920 definition has without question given a smaller proportion of dairy cows (and a larger proportion of beef cows) than the 1910 definition would have done. In states where beef cattle are of minor importance, however, the change in definition appears to have had very little effect on the relative numbers of cows in the two classes.

A change was also made between 1910 and 1920 in the age limits of the class briefly designated as "dairy cows." In 1910 all cows and heifers "born before January 1, 1909," were included; this would be roughly equivalent to a classification including all dairy cows and heifers 1 year old and over on January 1, 1910. In 1920, however, only those animals 2 years old and over on the census date (January 1, 1920) were classified as dairy cows.

In view of the fact that most of the heifers in the youngest group included in the 1920 classificationheifers 2 years old and under 3 years-would be within a few months of 3 years old, and might therefore be expected to produce milk for a large part of the year 1920, it is believed that the 1920 age limits for dairy cows are more reasonable than those used at any earlier census. For the age limits of the earlier censuses (either the "15 months old and over on April 15" of 1910, or the "2 years old and over on June 1" of 1900 and earlier) all included a considerable number of heifers too young to give milk at any time during the census year. In relating the number of cows on hand in 1920 to the milk production of 1919, it is necessary to assume, of course, that the young heifers coming into milk during 1920 replace an approximately equal number of older cows milked in 1919 and then disposed of.

While undoubtedly most of the milk and other dairy products reported are produced by dairy cows-that is, cows kept mainly for milk production— yet a very considerable amount in some sections of the United States is reported by farms having only beef cows that is, cows kept mainly for beef production.

Estimates of milk production.-Prior to the census of 1910 estimates were made for incomplete reports, where the enumerator had reported "cows kept for milk," but failed to report the amount of milk produced. Since these estimates were made, for the most part, on the basis of the complete reports, it is believed that they resulted in a considerable overstatement of the milk production, especially in certain states where there was little specialized dairy farming. In the first place they were based on an average per cow derived largely from the reports of the best dairy herds in a given area, since complete reports would almost certainly be made for such herds. In the second place they were obtained by applying this high average to schedules for cows that were doubtless much inferior in actual producing capacity, since those farmers who kept cows mainly for beef production, or who at any rate regarded milk production as only an incidental item, would most frequently fail to report the milk production.

In 1910 a beginning was made in an effort to eliminate this error; but it could not be even largely eliminated so long as many cows and heifers kept chiefly for beef production were reported as dairy cows because they were milked for a short period during the year.

For the census of 1920, however, with the improved method of classification for dairy cows which has been outlined above, it has been possible to make estimates of milk production for the farm with incomplete reports which are believed to be much more accurate than those of any earlier census.