Many requests come to the Animal Husbandry Department of Iowa State College for information relating to the literature of the swine industry as well as for the names and addresses of swine registry and record associations. To supply this increasing demand this catalog and directory has been prepared to present information which is concise and up-to-date. The literature on swine husbandry is growing rapidly and many notable additions to the list of publications on this subject may be expected in the near future.

The major problems that the present depression has forced upon agriculture can be grouped under three heads : 1. Low prices for agricultural products. 2. High fixed charges on mortgage and other indebtedness in relation to income. 3. High truces in relation to income. The gravity of these problems is perhaps not comprehended by those outside of agriculture itself. The average man hears of 10 cent corn and $3.00 hogs, but he does not grasp the significance of these prices; he does not realize the meaning of the events· of the past year for agriculture, nor does he realize what is going to happen to agriculture during the next 12 months if some program of action is not put into effect.

The increasing demand for food products flavored with true fruits and fruit juices is of special interest to the ice cream manufacturer. Many cold packed fruits are available on the market although in numerous cases fruits are sold as cold packed which are actually preserved by the addition of various preservatives such as sodium benzoate.

The amount of farm property destroyed annually by wind and fire is appalling, and this loss constitutes a heavy financial drain upon the state and nation. In many instances, the losses are due to carelessness or improper construction of buildings and might easily be prevented. Since prevention of the loss of' a building is much better than reconstruction, this circular purposes to call attention to some of the easily observed preventive measures which if followed will reduce farm building losses resulting from wind and fire.

We have in Iowa two troublesome species of morning glory. One is native and is known as the wild morning glory or bindweed (Convolvulus sepium L.). The other, an introduced European species, is known by many common names, the principal of which are European bindweed, field bindweed, small morning glory and creeping Jennie (Convolvulus arvensis L.). This circular will discuss the European morning glory, which is becoming a serious pest in many states and especially in those west of the Mississippi River. It is reported as the worst perennial weed in Colorado, California and Kansas, and a serious pest in South Dakota, Idaho, Utah and Washington. It is generally distributed in Iowa but is particularly abundant and troublesome in the northwestern part. The European bindweed reduces crop yields, increases the labor costs, menaces the adjoining clean land and finally reduces land values. Every farmer should learn to recognize the European bindweed and eradicate it before it becomes established.

The successful feeding of horses requires a knowledge of the composition. of the common feeding stuffs, the requirements of horses under various conditions and their proper management. Those who have studied horse feeding problems generally concede that considerable feed may be saved by the proper use of the various feeds and an up-to-date system of management. Surveys have shown that some horses, even tho they get twice as much feed as others, do no more work and are kept in no better condition. This can be explained by the fact that one farmer understands how to feed and care for his animals, while the other simply wastes feed because he does not know the amount and the kind needed.

This report, the fifth of a series of yearly reports on livestock trucking in Iowa, is made possible thru the cooperation of the four public markets, 14 packing plants and 29 concentration points that receive Iowa livestock by truck.1 All these markets report the number of hogs they receive by truck yearly, and the four public markets and six packing plants receiving other species of livestock by truck reported on the numbers of cattle, calves and sheep that they had received in this manner during 1930. This year for the first time preliminary tabulations on truck receipts of species of livestock other than hogs are included.

Iowa farmers get from hogs, on the average, $40 out of every $100 of their gross income. Since about 10 percent of all pork products and from 25 to 35 percent of the total output of lard are exported, Iowa farmers arc interested in the foreign outlet for their pork. The price at which pork products are sold abroad has a good deal to do with the price of hogs when sold off the farm.

Asparagus, brought from Europe by the early settlers, was grown as a cultivated crop in the United States for more than two centuries before it became troubled with insect pests of major importance. Eventually, however, and also from across the sea, there were introduced into America two of its enemies widely known in Europe since the earliest times as asparagus beetles. These, together with a native fly whose larva is called the asparagus miner, comprise the only insects seriously affecting the growing of asparagus in this country. It is true, however, that grasshoppers, plant bugs, cutworms and a few other insects now and then attack the asparagus plant, but these are usually not of sufficient importance to cause serious injury.

This circular contains statistics relating to: (I) The marketings of Iowa livestock, (II) the marketings of Iowa livestock by truck, and (III) miscellaneous statistics on (a) the stocker and feeder movement of cattle, calves and sheep into Iowa, (b) the semiannual Iowa pig surveys and their relation to subsequent marketings, and (c) receipts of Iowa cattle by grades at Chicago.