492 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



and previous to that time it was twenty-five years more, which, 

 makes about forty. My father was in the cattle business in the 

 eastern part of the state. He came out from Ohio in the early '50s, 

 and in those days they rode horseback. He went back to Ohio later 

 and married my mother. I have heard him say that it took two 

 weeks to ride from Ohio to Burlington, Iowa, and they had to 

 cross the river on a boat in those days. 



Now, I have listened to the remarks of your worthy president, 

 Mr. Brockway, Captain Smith and Professor Pew, and I want to 

 say that I was very much impressed. If I lived in any part of 

 Iowa, I don't care how far it was from Des Moines, I would join 

 this association. I have had more or less experience with associa- 

 tions — first with the Texas Cattle Growers' Association, which is a 

 strong body of men ; later with the Miles City and the North Mon- 

 tana Roundup Association and this is the second time I have at- 

 tended a cattle feeders' association. I feel that it is an honor to 

 l)elong to an association of this kind. If a man has a protest, it 

 is up to the officers or board of directors, and you can make any 

 railroad sit up and take notice. But if one man should go, you 

 might as well try to whistle out of the window ; they wouldn 't listen 

 to you. 



I was very much interested in Mr. Brockway 's and Mr. Smith's 

 papers about the feeding of calves and yearlings. Being on the 

 market every day, I have had more or less experience. The trade 

 is demanding young cattle — early maturity; you can't get away 

 from it. As Professor Pew remarked, it was demonstrated at our 

 last fat stock show. I stood in the ring and saw the grand 

 champion yearling sell at $13.25, and two loads of yearlings and 

 one load of Short-horns bought at the Denver show in January, sold 

 at $11.40. There was a gentleman from Missouri who had four or 

 five cattle. One load of Short-horns weighed 1,960 and sold at 

 $8.80. He had another load at $8.50. Another load over 1,800 

 pounds at $8.60 he claimed had been fed eighteen months. Only 

 two of all the buyers would buy those heavy cattle ; they are out 

 of style. On Saturday Tom Cross and myself took Walter Blumen- 

 thal, the president of the United Dressed Beef Company, out to 

 lunch. He told me : "Tell your customers to make their money on 

 short feeding." Of course, the most money I have ever seen made 

 on feeding cattle was on short-fed cattle — cattle that had been fed 

 ninety days. I remember once there were two men in Vermillion 

 county, Illinois. One was a son of an old English friend of ours, 



