FAKMERS' INSTITUTES. 465 



BEEF AND BEEF BREEDS. 



BY PROF. C. L. INGERSOL. 



[Head at Charlolle ami IIowcll Institutcs.J 



The end of nil cattle is the shambles. This is a fact pretty well understood, 

 and unless disease of some kind or misfortune overtakes them, every farmer 

 undertakes to bring his surjjlus cattle to the butcher's block. Our cattle may 

 be divided into dairy breeds and beef breeds. This division is not an arbitrary 

 one, as one class merges into the other, and nearly all breeds are kept for milk 

 as a present consideration, while they are afterward fed for beef. Two ques- 

 tions then arise, "As to whether we shall keep that breed of cattle which shall 

 make the most beef, and take whatever milk yield may come with it; or, 2d, 

 Whether we shall keep that breed which shall give us the best milk yield 

 through a series of years, and then make whatever beef we can after that." 



In other words, shall we make beef first or milk first. These are questions 

 that cannot be readily answered, either affirmatively or negatively. Only rela- 

 tive answers can be given, and each farmer must decide for himself after a 

 thorough canvass of his peculiar circumstances and 'surroundings. There is 

 one question that should come home with force to each one of us, viz. : Cannot I 

 do something to improve the animals I have now in my possession, and care 

 for them better? When once we have asked ourselves this question seriously 

 and with a desire to do sometlyng, the work is well begun, and one great reason 

 why there is so little improvement of stock is, that the real desire for it does 

 not exist. When such desire does exist, many go at work blindly to accomplish 

 it. This reminds me of the farmer correspondent of a certain journal who 

 wrote asking if they had ever heard of crossing cattle and buffaloes; saying 

 that a certain paper said it had been done and the cross-bred animals had 

 juany of the characteristics and valuable properties of both. The answer of 

 the editor was quite laconic and right to the point, " We have often seen com- 

 mon domestic cattle which in our opinion would have been considerably im- 

 proved if crossed with the buffalo — or anything else." 



What are the beef breeds? 



There are four breeds that are generally considered as the beef breeds, viz. : 

 The Short-horns, lierefords, Devons, and Polled Scotch cattle, and the 

 various persons who are interested in these breeds never seem to tire of pushing 

 their claims forward for their favorite breed. The Short-horns in numbers seem 

 to have the preference in Great Britain, and also in America, while the Herefords 

 .are close behind them if not equal in results reached where close competition has 

 been allowed. Many of you are doubtless aware of the honors carried off at the 

 Paris exhibition by Mr. McOombie's Polled Scots, and that they were taken in 

 competition with some of the finest Short-horns and Herefords. This may 

 seem to point to some of the difficulties these breeds Avill have in the future, 

 to hold their place in the fat stock shows of the old world. For the encourage- 

 ment of those who feel that they cannot afford to go to the expense of buying 

 pure bred animals of any particular breed, we have this to offer : that in many 

 instances in the show ring the successful animal has been a grade, and that 



