No. 6. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 557 



PAPERS READ AT KEYSTONE FAIR ASSOCIATION. 

 HELD AT PITTSBURG. PA.. JANUARY. 1912 



BEEF CATTLE DEMONSTRATION 



By PROF. W. A. COCHEL, State College, Fa. 



The breeding and feeding of Beef Cattle is associated with pros- 

 I>eritj on the part of farmers who make a business of growing corn 

 and grass and utilizing these crops on the farms which produced 

 them. There are four breeds of cattle which have been bred for 

 the purpose of producing beef: Aberdeen- Angus, Hereford, Gallo- 

 way and Shorthorn. We are fortunate in having before us typical 

 representatives of each breed this morning. The Aberdeen-Angus 

 representative is a bull weighing, in breeding condition, 2,000 pounds. 

 He is typical of the breed, being extremely short-legged and bloeky 

 with short neck, deep body, wide back and exceptionalh- well 

 developed loin and hind quarters. You will notice that he is black 

 and polled, which are both breed characters. Eepresentatives of 

 this breed have won more premiums in individual and carload 

 classes, as well as on the block, than any other and usually find 

 much favor among buyeis of cattle for immediate slaughter. This 

 i:' largely because of their smoothness and quality, which enables 

 their carcasses to be cut with a minimum amount of v»aste. The 

 only objections to this breed are that they do not, as a rule, attain 

 quite so great a weight, they are not so quiet, and the cows are 

 frequently poor milkers as compared with some of the other breeds. 

 These faults, however, are not universal and can be eliminated by 

 careful selection of breeding animals. 



The second animal, with white face and a red body, is an ex- 

 cellent representative of the Hereford breed. He is just two years 

 old this week and weighs 1,500 pounds. You will notice that he 

 ii> extremely short-legged, thick-fleshed, with wide straight back 

 and deep body, of the same general form and type as the others 

 in this respect. He is in such condition that he would sell at the 

 top of any market in the country and if slaughtered would yield 

 the kind of carcass most sought after by butchers who cater to 

 the best trade. This breed is noted for its early maturity and its 

 nihility to fatten rapidly at any age. Herefords are considered by 

 many cattle men as the best grazers of any of the breeds of beef 

 cattle and are largely used on the ranges and plains of the West. 

 'Jlie objections to the Hereford are that their fat is not so evenly 

 distributed, many individuals are especially deficient in the hind 

 quarters and as they mature they are apt to become rough and 

 coarse. The cows from some families in the breed are poor milkers. 



