372 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



would increase only at the rate of about 50 pounds a month. Mr. 

 Thrasher (one of the oldest breeders in the State) said he ^Yas satisfied 

 that the first thousand pounds of increase of weight cost but half as 

 much as the second, and so on. A great mistake is made by turning 

 cattle out on grass too early in the spring and stopping the feed. That 

 is the very time they ought to be fed. At first they should be fed as 

 regularly and strongly as during the winter months, and the amount of 

 feed gradually decreased as the grass becomes more mature. 



Mr. Lowder read a brief paper on the value of short-horn bulls and 

 the characteristics of a good breeding-bull. He said: 



A good short-horn bull, descended from pure ancestors, hoth male and female, that 

 were themselves good, may be depended upon for producing good calves, even from 

 very inferior cows. On an average, it would be safe to say that liis calves would at 

 one year old sell to the intelligent grazier for §10 more than those sired by an ordinary 

 low grade ; and at two years, for §25 more ; and at three years old, to the butcher or 

 shipper for $40 or §50 more. It would be safe to say that calves from such a bull, bred 

 and kept by the well-to-do farmer until three years old, would each not him at least 

 $25 more than those sired by such bulls as usually run the public highways, and to be 

 found on many good farms. A little calculation would illustrate what a short-horn 

 bull would be worth. From the time he is one year old until he is two, he would sire 

 twenty-five calves, and after that until ten years old seventy-five a year. Suppose, 

 then, a farmer having as many cows as one bull can serve, and he should buy a first- 

 class short-horn of only good pedigree one year old, and should keep him three years, he 

 would then have one hundred and fifty calves that would be worth when disposed of 

 the nice little sum of §3,750 as the profit for the service of the bull. The bull earned 

 it. The farmer would not have had it but for the use of the thoroughbred bull. 



Stating that the last census showed that there were 393,730 milch- 

 cows in the State, while there were now but 2G0 short-horn bulls, or 

 about one-twentieth of the number needed for that number of cows, he 

 continues : 



While I am free to acknowledge that an ordinary small farmer with only four or five 

 common cows cannot afford to pay for his own use $200 for a bull, I wish to insist that 

 while there is a lack of at least 5,000 thoroughbred bulls in Indiana that should be 

 supplied, and at least 50,000 farmers in our State organized into granges for the pur- 

 pose of co-operation and mutual assistance in all things that pertain to their interest, 

 no good thoroughbred short-horn bull should sell in the State at public auction for less 

 than §500. Though the assertion may not be believed by some of my hearers, yet I 

 declare he is worth the money, and would earn the amount in one season, if properly 

 used, simply in the production of steers alone. Then, when we consider that there 

 are probably not less than 250,000 cows in Indiana that ought to be replaced with half- 

 bloods or higher grades, or thoroughbreds, and that l>y the use of thoroughbred bulls 

 only the native and low-grade cows can be replaced by the high-grade or thorough- 

 bred in a few years, the value of their services becomes more apparent. It is their 

 known superior merits in grading up the common stock of the country that brings 

 them into such demand, and the comparative scarcity of good bulls contributes to the 

 high price. The price is regulated by the supply and the demand. The farmer who 

 proposes to wait until good short-horns can bo bought at beef-price will never be the 

 purchaser of a good bull. 



He gave the points of a good breeding-bull as follows : 



It is impossible for any one always to tell how bulls will breed until they are tested, 

 yet the intelligent and careful farmer or herdsman can guess with approximate cer- 

 tainty as to the general character of the get. A good breeding-bull must not only be 

 like a bull, but he must look like a bull ; that is, ho must not look like a cow ; he must 

 be masculine in appearance. And this holds good in the pure short-horn as in the scrub, 

 or any other breed. A good bull is as much entitled to the peculiar eye, head, horn, 

 neck, shoulder, and chest that characterize him as a male as a man is entitled to his 

 beard and the peculiar expression of his countenance. A bull with light jaws, narrow 

 lace and forehead, slim horns, thin neck and shoulders, is seldom an impressive sire of 

 good things. Ho must be masculine in appearance. This does not imply that he must 

 bo coarse ; on the contrary, he should be fine. Coarseness may bo defined as uneven- 

 ness, while fineness is the result of uniformity. Each partijhould be such that it fits 

 smoothly and evenly to thosQ nd.joiuing it. 



As has beeu said above, a bail ia valuable only as his breeding is valuable. This 



