FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 141 



must be my excuse in so doing. If what bas been written will aid in a 

 revival of an- interest in the breeding and feeding of domestic animals 

 it will not have been in vain. 



DISCUSSION. 



C. D. Smith : I want to repeat here what I have said at a great many Institutes 

 in many sections of tliis State concerning tlie relation of certain distinct dairy breeds 

 to beef production in this State. I believe that the dairy breeds, especially the Jerseys, 

 have done incalculable good to Michigan by improving the blood of the dairy herd. 

 But I believe, also, that the introduction of Jersey blood into districts which are and 

 ought to be given up entirely to beef production has worked serious injury to those 

 sections. The time was, for instance, when a buyer could find, not one, but many car- 

 loads of steers, in the thumb, fit for sale in the most discriminating markets of the 

 country. On their carcasses the great weight of beef was stored on the loin and along 

 the spinal column, where it would bring the most money. Today it would be hard to 

 find in those same regions many steers of a high class, and the decadence in quality 

 is due in no small degree to the introduction of bulls of the dairy breed. 



A Farmer: It must not be forgotten that the states west of the Mississippi raise 

 corn much cheaper than we can. Hence they can beat us in beef production, and I 

 fear that the time has not yet come when it is safe for Michigan farmers to go heavily 

 into the fattening of steers. 



Wm. Ball: We are feeding steers, not only because we can make some money, but 

 because we want to feed up on the farm the coarse feed which we raise there, and with 

 us steers have proved a profitable way of doing it. 



A. B. Cook: It seems to me that "the ensilage question is a special question. One 

 man may make a success of it while another does not. The question of the right type 

 of cattle is one of paramount importance. As an instance of its importance, I raay 

 say that I have recently sold a cow for four cents per pound, while at the same time 

 some of my neighbors sold two carloads of steers for $3.75 per hundred weight. The 

 latter believe in raising Jersey calves for steers. It is folly to put fuel in an engine 

 that is not adapted to its piurpose. 



Q. How should you feed corn, ground or unground? 



Wm. Ball: We grind because it is convenient and because it seems to us more 

 economical. 



L. W. Oviatt: We must have the proper type of steers to feed if we are going to 

 make any money. On the other hand, we cannot afford to keep a cow in our section 

 of the country just for the calf, and we must therefore have a cow that will give some 

 account of heVself at the pail. Hence our demand for a general purpose animal. I am 

 feeding steers in a small way. We are feeding the corn almost entirely unhusked. I 

 also feed sheep and lambs. For these animals I shell the corn. My neighbor does not: 

 he feeds the corn unhusked to his sheep and lambs and they weigh out nearly as well 

 as mine. 



Mr. McDougal: I have fed corn both ground and unhusked. To me the latter is 

 the most satisfactory method. One man can feed a much larger herd of steers and 

 thus economize human labor, and when the method is judiciously followed there is no 

 more waste than when the steers are fed meal. Mr. Eggleston of Parma has ex- 

 tensive racks in which the corn is fed, and there is no waste of the food material. So 

 my neighbor has tried grinding the corn and feeding unhusked, and has adopted the 

 latter method because of the expense and trouble of husking and grinding. Another 

 neighbor cuts the corn and stalks in a cutting box, and feeds in that way. 



W. C. Stuart: I can't see where there is much gain if the corn is bound in big 

 shocks and hauled to the barn when needed. In our part of the State we have three 

 feet of snow sometimes and sometimes none at all. In the latter case the heavy soil is 

 very muddy and you cannot haul the corn when you want it. What does it cost to pro- 

 duce a pound of beef ? There are two bunches of steers being fed near me this winter : 

 one has ground feed and the other corn in the stalk. They are well graded shorthorn 

 steers. Those tied in the stalls all winter and fed meal are fully a third better now 

 than those fed in the open on corn unhusked. 



Allen Ramsay: I am feeding two carloads of steers this Avinter. Mr. Gilbert, who 

 lives near me, feeds silage for siicculent food. I feed whole corn hauled from the field 

 and run through the cutting box. Through the main part of the feeding period I feed 

 whole corn, later I grind the grain. Pigs are running after the steers, but toward 



