SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 565 



they wil stay there. And it takes a good deal of patience and ingenuity 

 to accomplish this. It is a hard matter to find out just which is the best 

 way to handle the calf to make him show himself. 



Perhaps ten days before shipping out for show the horns are dressed 

 .down and a little grooming commenced. If they are cared for properly 

 their coats should always be in condition to respond to the grooming easily 

 The oil will be there and will come out nice and handsome the first time 

 you groom them. We do very little with the currycomb, using mostly a 

 brush and an oiled flannel rag, which takes the dust out of the hair. 



Now, who does all this work? It sounds very easy to do this with 

 just a few head of cattle. I have known many a show herd to go into the 

 ring and lose prizes for lack of somebody competent to do this work. 

 I do not think any man who owns a farm and has to attend to business of 

 that kind can atend to his farm or any other business and take proper 

 care of his show herd also, so that he can go into the Royal or Interna- 

 tional or Wold's Fair and win. I doubt if it can be done. Therefore, one 

 of the important things is to find somebody who knows how to handle 

 these cattle and handle them to the best advantage. He should give his 

 undivided attenion to it. The next year, after returning from the shows, 

 we know pretty well which are our good calves. We, perhaps, want to 

 carry over one of the bulls we have been showing in order to show a 

 young herd the next year. We select him and carry him on, and if he 

 seems to be a particularly good one we propose to keep him for the next 

 year. That is sometimes done, but not always. Perhaps it is not in the 

 majority of cases. We handle the heifers the same way, although it 

 doesn't seem to be necessary to give the heifers the same or as much 

 attention as the bulls receive. We follow the same rule the next j'ear in 

 selecting our calves. 



Some three or four years ago, when I first thought I would like to be 

 a showman, if I had been called upon for this paper I think I could have 

 told you everything there was in the business. My experience in the 

 meantime has led me to believe I know very little about it. The question 

 is often asked, will these cattle breed — are they serviceable cattle? So 

 far as my experience goes, we have less trouble getting our show cows to 

 breed and to drop calves safely than the other cows in our breding herd. 

 It is not usually so considered, I believe, by most people, unless they try 

 it. But the reason for this is generally in the care of the cattle, or, rather, 

 in the ration they eat. I do not believe it possible to keep a cow in a barren 

 stage by the use of plenty of good alfalfa hay and the mixture such as we 

 use in our feed. We use com-and-cob-meal and bran and oats, about one- 

 third of each. If there is any one part of that ration that runs short of 

 the one-third, we try to m.ake it corn-and-cob-meal. We have used some 

 oil-meal. We used a little of it last year, but not very much, and I can- 

 not say whether or not I will ever use any more. 



As to stock foods that so many people use, I have never used but one 

 kind, and that for only a very short time; and as for myself, I do not 

 think I shall ever use any more of it. They are high-priced, and I don't 

 believe they are accomplishing as much as some people claim for them. 



