492 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



in the hands of less intelligent breeders have been injured, or at least not 

 benefited. There are plenty of good Shorthorns, well bred, that are obtain- 

 able at a little advance over good grades, and every farmer in the State who 

 raises cattle for beef and milk should possess them. 



There is more profit in it, there is more pride in it, there is much more 

 satisfaction in looking at and owning a good animal than a moderately good 

 one, and very much more than in owning a scrub and throwing away feed 

 and time to preserve life. 



Beef will be eaten as long as people eat meat, and the better the quality 

 the earlier it matures, the more money it brings and the more successful is 

 the raiser. Some say that a good grade is as good as a thoroughbred for 

 beef. That depends on how much it lacks of being a thoroughbred. So 

 few thoroughbred steers or heifers are fattened that these statements need 

 taking with a grain of allowance. Eeasoning from analogy, if the grade is 

 made better by having numerous crosses of the blood of the the thoroughbred 

 in its veins, it follows that the improvement was made by such thorough- 

 breds, and it also follows that the grade which is inferior cannot be as good 

 as the thoroughbred which is superior. No farmer of today can safely 

 be indifferent to the waste of feed and time in raising inferior stock. It is 

 said that the bull is half the herd. If so, how important that he should 

 be a good one. In description he should be something as follows: The 

 weight when at maturity and in good flesh should be 2,000 to 2,500 pouds. 

 He should be red or roan in color. He should be a low, compact, meaty 

 animal, and from a family of good milking qualities. He should stand 

 squarely and firmly on a good, strong (not coarse) set of straight legs well 

 set apart. His head should have a masculine appearance (not coarse) with 

 a clear orange-colored muzzle, as free from dark spots as possible, broad 

 between the eyes, with a finely formed horn, flattish but not too fine. It 

 should be so placed upon a finely arched neck that the look should be com- 

 manding, and as the saying is "up there," without any effort on the part of 

 the groom or caretaker. His look should, be intelligent, and his disposition 

 kind. He should be deep in the girth, full back of the shoulders, shoulder 

 points smoothly covered. He should have a well sprung rib, broad back, 

 full over the loin, broad, smooth hips, coupling well forward and straight 

 from the top of the shoulder to the point where the tail leaves the body, 

 which should be far enough so that it should drop in a vertical manner, with 

 a nice bunch of long hair at the extremity. He should be well let down in 

 the twist, low in flank and not paunchy. His hide should have moderate 

 thickness, elasticity and flexibility, or in other words, he should be a good 

 handler. He should be covered with a good, thick coat of long, silky hair, 

 and be an easy keeper. He should not be over or under fed, nor injured by 

 a lack of proper exercise. His treatment should be firm and kind. The 

 cow should be equally good, but smaller, to a certain extent. She should 

 be a perfect beef animal when fleshy, and a model dairy cow when in milk, 

 besides being a good breeder. 



I will say, in conclusion, that the object in this paper has been to try and 

 show the superiority of thoroughbred and well bred stock over the poor, no 

 bred stuff that infests the county. I have given my own choice of cattle, 

 and my reasons therefor, as they appear to me. That improvement has 

 been made by good judgment, good care, and that without these what was 

 gained would be lost. 



