240 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



est, and are extremely popular. They are generally considered 

 the handsomest." 



''April 16, 1900. — Thirteen black polled Angus steers,- aver- 

 aging 1,526 pounds, brought $6 per hundredweight today, the 

 highest price paid in a long time. They were sold by George 

 Adams and Burk. F. D. Moses of Wayne, Neb., fed and marketed 

 these cattle." 



"April 30, 1900. — Nelson Morris, the large packer, says: 'I 

 am breeding the hornless Aberdeen-Angus. I am growing them 

 on my farms in Indiana and Nebraska, and on my ranch in Texas. 

 I have bred them for ten or twelve years, and the more I see of 

 them the more I am convinced that they are by all odds the best 

 beef breed. They have a larger proportion of lean to fat when 

 ready for the market than any other. They feed more quietly 

 and their hides are worth more because free from scratches and 

 horn thrusts. I do not raise fancy breeding cattle for sale, but 

 grow the best practical beef cattle. Everybody knows that horns 

 are not only useless but a detriment. Years ago I felt this to be 

 so and began dehorning my cattle, when I was fined $500 for 

 cruelty to animals. Now a vast majority of the cattle that come 

 to market are dehorned. I prefer the natural process of dehorn- 

 ing, which is by the use of breeds that do not have them.' " 



These items and many more of same import made me think 

 and wonder why these cattle were getting such favorable notices, 

 and especially from the people who were engaged in the buying 

 and selling of beef products on a large scale in the largest open 

 markets of this country, or the world, in fact. I therefore con- 

 cluded to better inform myself on my next trip to Kansas City or 

 Chicago, and talk with the commission men, their salesmen, and 

 others, as to why these Angus cattle were such favorites, fat or 

 poor. 



The general answer I received was that they were regarded 

 by the packers and butchers as dressing out the highest proportion 

 of marketable beef according to their gross weight. In addition 

 to this, the dressed products was of the very best grade, was even 

 and marbled. They were thickest and largest where the high- 

 priced cuts were located, and in almost every manner were as near 

 the butcher's type as could be found. On the other hand, they 

 said in regard to the stocker or feeder, that they were as much the 

 feeder type as the finished steers were the ideal butcher's type. On 

 account of their wonderful early-maturing qualities, the greatest 

 gain for amount of hay and grain consumed and no horns to con- 



