FEEDING HAY. 1Q5 



S20 over all expenses. Wo think that good grade Shorthorns or 

 Here fords will do better than the figures given, with good care and 

 feed, which must be given if we expect any profits from them. 



We expect some will differ with us on these figures, and sa3- they 

 can be made by only a favored few. These few are every farmer 

 who will get good stock, take good care of them, and feed them 

 liberally. We will here refer to some farmers who have done better 

 than these figures show. A Mr. Clements of Kendnskeag, Penob- 

 scot county, a few years since raised a yoke of grade Hereford 

 steers, that at the age of two and a half years were sold for $275, 

 the dressed weight of the pair being twent^'-eight hundred pounds. 

 If we allow $175 for their keeping (which we think is too high) on 

 hay and grain, the}- gave a net profit of $100. 



At the Cattle Show and Fair held at Monroe, Waldo count}', in 

 October last, Mr. J. R. Littlefield sold four grade Hereford calves 

 for $140, or $70 a pair. We mention these to show what can be 

 done by an}- one who is disposed to give their stock the proi)er care 

 and feed they require to make profitable returns. It is claimed by- 

 all breeders of stock, that from their birth they should be kept in a 

 thrifty and growing condition, and the calf should never be allowed 

 to lose flesh ; and that meat can be made cheaper on animals under 

 three };ears of age than it can on older animals. 



From the present outlook, there is reason to believe that the rais- 

 ing of stock for beef will be a profitable branch of farming in this 

 State, for the demand for good beef will be larger in the future than 

 it has been in years past. We think there should be more attention 

 given to the production of it in our State. According to statistics, 

 the yearly increase of the population in this country is some twenty 

 per cent, more than the increase of the neat stock. This being the 

 fact, there is no prospect of cheap beef in the near future, with 

 larger demands for it every year from foreign countries, and with a 

 million of emigrants landing on our shores every year. The plains, 

 the great pasture of the West, where hundreds of thousands of 

 cattle are fattened every year, are l)eing taken up and occupied by 

 the emigrant, and put to other agricultural purposes beside pastur- 

 age, thus reducing rather than increasing the yearly production of 

 beef. At the present time, in several of the European countries, 

 the question is being agitated as to where the beef that will be re- 

 quired to feed their people is to come from. Will it not be with 

 their meat, to a great extent, as it is with their bread — they will 



