snoRTHOKN breeders' association. 225 



have been advocating for years, and if we expect to stay to the front we 

 will have to bring out good steers. 1 want to hear from all of you now. 

 Mr. Bradfute, we would like to hear from you. 



Mr. Bradfute, of Ohio: Mr. Chairman, I did not know whether or 

 not a man from another State could feel at home in a meeting of this 

 kind; however, 1 am of the opinion tliat whatever is good for a Short- 

 horn steer is good for an Angus steer, and one thing that induced me to 

 accept the invitation to come to this meeting was the very attractive 

 program you have put out for this week. I have certainly profited from 

 the time that 1 have been able to drop into your meetings, and have en- 

 joyed being present with you. I have certainly enjoyed the paper to 

 which I have just listened, and I think I have profited by it. I can agree 

 with almost every word that I'rofessor Skinner has uttered on this 

 suljject. It has always seemed strange to me that Shorthorn men with 

 the large number of cattle they have, have not pushed the steer question 

 more than they have. It has been my good fortune to begin with a calf 

 that was a champion. I have a letter from .John Clay in my pocket in 

 which he says it is the best steer he has ever seen in his life. I want to 

 say this to you Shorthorn men. There has been no work which we have 

 undertaken which has brought as much advertising as the feeding of that 

 particular steer. It doesn't seem to make much difference where I have 

 gone in the past two or three years, I am asked about that calf. When 

 I come to the Indiana State Fair— this is the first year we have missed 

 for a number of years, we have only missed three fairs in sixteen years— 

 but when I come over here, nine meff out of ten, whether Angus or 

 Shorthorn men, always ask about how the steer is doing. That is the 

 main question. What is the steer doing? I want to say again to you 

 Shorthorn men that you can't put out better advertising than a good 

 winning steer. We now have a show where every one has a chance to 

 show what they have in the steer line, and prove what thej' can do. 

 This show was established to give good men a chance to show good 

 animals. I want to emphasize the point made by Professor Skinner on 

 the use of the scales. It has been our custom to weigh our steers at least 

 every two weeks, and we always try to weigh the animals under the 

 same conditions. If you want them to be light weight, of course j'ou can 

 weigh them when the conditions arje right, and if you decide you want 

 them heavy weight, of course the time to weigh is just after they have 

 "Ijeen at the water tank, but this is not the correct way of doing. You 

 ought to weigh the animal at the same time each day, as near as pos- 

 sible, and imder the same conditions, and in this way you can tell just 

 what he is doing. There are times that you can not tell what he is doing, 

 xniless you weigh liijn. It is easy to l>e fooled on one of these fellows, 

 and you may tliink he is getting ah)ng tine and when j'ou weigh him, find 

 out that you were entirely mistaken after you have made two or three 

 weights. Some cattle are of the mincey kind and are hard to feed. We 



16-Agri. 



