In an estimated total of 945,000 head of cattle in Oregon at the beginning of 1937, nearly 260,000 were cows and heifers kept for milk — a notable contrast to the first little herd, owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, which browsed the moist levels of Sauvie Island more than a century ago. Adjacent to the principal cities and towns are many dairy farms and creameries. The Tillamook, Coos Bay, and other coastal areas, with their perennial green pasturage, are ideal dairying regions, and the irrigated Klamath basin is also an important field.
The first sheep successfully driven across the plains were brought to Oregon in 1844 by Joshua Shaw and his son. Saxon and Spanish merinos were introduced in 1848, and purebred merinos in 1851. The earliest herds were confined to the western region, particularly the Willamette Valley, but by 1860 many had been established in eastern Oregon. As the favorable climate and range conditions became better known, sheepmen from California and Australia swarmed into the State, and by 1893 the herds had increased to two and a half million head. After rising to 3,319,000 in 1930, the number declined to an estimated total of 2,245,000 at the beginning of 1937. Besides the marketing of mutton, a large annual clip of wool is sold. The 1937 production was more than 17,000,000 pounds, the average weight per fleece being %l/2 pounds. Shipping of wool began in 1862, when the surplus clip of that year, amounting to 100,000 pounds, was sent from the Willamette Valley to New England. Many settlers brought goats with them across the plains, but commercial goat-raising is a comparatively recent enterprise. The most prevalent breed is the Angora, valued for its mohair wool. Today more than half of the mohair wool produced in the United States comes from Oregon.
Every pioneer farmer raised hogs to provide fat for soap, candles, and cooking, and meat for his table. Purebred swine were brought to the state in 1868, after which the importation of fine hogs became common. The number of hogs on Oregon farms at the beginning of 1937 was estimated at 242,000 as against only 169,000 in 1935.
Poultry has always been indispensable in Oregon farm life, since the first leghorns were introduced in 1834. Not until the present century, however, were eggs and poultry produced on a large scale. The temperate Willamette Valley is a favored area. Commercial turkey raising is comparatively new, but with its favorable summer climate and freedom from disease the state has already become an important producing area.
In 1935 there were 64,826 individual farms in Oregon occupying
