610 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



exception of two or three which were three-quarter Angus. These cattle 

 were gathered up last fall about the first of November when they weighed, 

 as nearly as I can estimate, about 850 pounds and were only running on 

 grass. They were nearly all raised in this country. When I bought 

 them I turned them on to fall pasture and besides let them run in stalk 

 fields after husking till real cold, severe weather set in, taking care all 

 the time that they held their own weight. About December 21 I began 

 feeding them a little corn in the ear with plenty of good hay, still letting 

 them run in the stalk fields as the weather was dry and cold, which last 

 winter held on until about January 20, when we got some heavy snow and 

 then I shut them up in the yard which is an ordinary sized feed lot. I 

 then fed them twice a day corn with a little oats which made a feed of 

 about twelve bushels ear corn and one of oats. 



After I had shut up my cattle I selected twelve of my best brood sows 

 and a boar and turned them in with the steers. I allowed them to run 

 and sleep together, and you can understand that the twelve bushels of 

 corn kept the cattle and hogs in good growing condition. I fed the ani- 

 mals this way until about aMrch 21 when I began to increase their feed 

 once a day and at the other end shortened it until I had them on a once-a- 

 day feed. I am a strong believer in the fact hat soaked corn is the best as 

 soon as you can feed it in the spring till late in the fall and that it will 

 produce more fat than feeding corn in the dry state and on the cob. Do 

 not feed cob corn under any circumstances. Shelled corn will keep if 

 you manage it right; is much nicer to feed and a great deal better for 

 your cattle as well as your own comfort and convenience. Of course this 

 is a question that troubles most breeders because corn has been so high 

 in price the last two years and a person has had to use it according to 

 his best knowledge and judgment. Some feeders use oil meal and others 

 cotton-seed meal. The latter has been used here in this neighborhood 

 some the last few months, but for my part I cannot see that it has paid 

 extra well. When you use those feeds your cattle have to gain quite a 

 bit more to justify the expense. I believe alfalfa and clover are as good 

 as anything. 



What kind of cattle to feed? I say this: if the feeder is going to 

 buy his feeders on the market buy a sort of common or medium kind. 

 But if you are going to buy them through the country buy the very best. 

 Now why? Well, because the market usually quotes the class that is 

 between the good and the common. There is generally a difference of 

 25 to 30 cents a hundred between them and in the country you can piCK. 

 out the best for what they generally ask for the poorest. And when you 

 reach the end you have gained 20 to 30 cents a hundred if your judgment 

 has been good enough to select uniform size, color and weight. The 

 Hereford is a good beef breed. Do not pick out a white steer and leave 

 a good red or roan Shrt-hrn nor a Jersey and leave an Angus. I 

 think it a good plan to first consider the color, then a good back and 

 hind quarters. Above all select a steer with a good muzzled jaw. 1 

 think the latter a very important point. The Herofords and Shon 

 horns generally have a deep, wide muzzled jaw, also the Angus, but not 

 so with the Jersey, Holstein and dairy breeds. The animals' food must 



