STOCK RAISING. 361 



No one ever hears of this sort of testimony being offered in favor of the scrubs. 



Mr. Claflin : I want to know what is the most profitable stock to raise. 



Mr. Green: A year ago August I sold three steers weighing 1,120, 1,250 

 and 1,280 pounds, two were half breed and one a high grade. A neighbor had 

 eighteen scrubs, and the man who bought mine would only take seven out of 

 the eighteen, and those seven averaged 1,050 pounds, and were two and three 

 years old. I have a pure steer that weighed 892 pounds at one year, and' 

 gained one hundred and eleven pounds in thirty days. I feed all they want 

 of corn and oats ground half and half and an equal bulk of bran. I give 

 all the grain they will take. I never kept record of cost from birth on. 

 I would keep animals in condition to sell at any time, so as to take 

 advantage of markets, and then sell at earliest favorable opportunity. I never 

 fed corn and cobs ground together. 



Mr. Claflin: How much more does it cost to raise a three-year-old colt 

 than a three-year-old steer? 



Mr. Pray: I never plan to feed over two and a half years, and I aver- 

 age 1^50 per head. I sold a three-year-old Short Horn heifer for beef for 

 $100. 



Mr. Green: The risk is much less in raising cattle than in raising 

 horses. 



Mr. Otto: My horses are grade Percheron. I give the first year, to colts, 

 exercise and plenty of hay, ground feed, shelter and bedding, and after the 

 first year no grain, but plenty of good hay and bedding and a roomy place 

 for exercise. I winter twenty-five to forty head. I have kept cattle, and 

 think the cost of keeping no greater to raise a three-year-old colt than a 

 three-year-old steer; the former sells for $30 to 150 and the latter for $150 to- 

 $200. 



Mr. Green: Mr. Otto, in counting the cost of a steer, should estimate the 

 value of a grade steer higher. Is it better to let a colt rough it after the first 

 year or to force it till three years old? 



Mr. Otto: I do not believe in forcing, or grain or grooming. Colts are 

 better raised on hay after the first year. Crowding colts spoils them, makes 

 them so frisky that there is more danger from kicking, slipping, etc. Horses 

 average two tons of hay apiece for a winter (my breed). 



Mr. Scott : Is there not less danger of overfeeding the lighter breeds of 

 horses? 



Mr. Otto: I doubt it. 



Mr. Sherman: Is it not dangerous to crowd any animal? 



Mr. Otto: I think so. 



Mr. Green: More animals are starved than there are that get enough. The 

 only harm in crowding is where there is no exercise, e. g., in stall feeding. 



Mr. Otto: As to profits of colt raising. Last year I found a large demand 

 for horses and sold in February a three-year-old span not halter-broken, three 

 horses coming four years old, and a pair of five-year-old mai'es with no fit- 

 ting, and the seven head brought $1,350. I can't fix the cost of raising. The 

 mares had each raised a colt, and they were grade Percherons and their dams 

 were natives. My first start was with grade mares and horses. 



Mr. Claflin : Were not those seven horses better than the average of your 

 stock? 



Mr. Otto : No, they were not near up to the average of my present 

 stock. 



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