90 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



many who bring young stock to Texas stint and half starve them, thinking that to keep them 

 in good growing condition increases the chances of disease. My observation teaches the 

 reverse to be true. To secure a complete development of bone, flesh, growth, and early, 

 profitable maturity, a calf must have generous treatment plenty of nutritious food, good 

 water, and kind treatment. I have heard men complain that Texas Short-Horns were not 

 growthy and handsome, like those exhibited at Northern fairs. The reason for the 

 dissimilarity was readily found, on investigation, to be that the one had excellent feeding and 

 grooming, while the other, in addition to a long winter, starvation and acclimation, with 

 a spring and summer with rain and hot sun, had his vitality almost destroyed by ticks, lice, 

 and vermin. Cattle from the North cannot be acclimated unless generous food, comfortable 

 quarters, and kind treatment are given to them during their first year in Texas; and unless 

 this treatment be kept up, they are worthless when acclimated.&quot; 



It is also recommended by the above authority that no animal should be transported to 

 Texas for this purpose that is over eight months old, and an imported calf should not be 

 used freely for breeding purposes, until he is at least twenty months old ; by such judicious 

 management he may be useful for many years. 



What Constitutes a Good Bovine Animal. In considering this subject, the 

 objective point, or the use to which the animal is to be appropriated, should receive the first 

 attention. It should be the aim of every breeder to rear the best cattle ; by this we mean 

 that it will be found the most profitable to rear such, that in their various points are best 

 suited for the uses required of them, whether it be for the profitable production of beef, 

 labor, or milk. What might be regarded as a good animal for beef, might not be as valuable 

 for working purposes; while a good beef animal might also prove almost worthless in the 

 dairy, and the reverse. There are also certain portions of the animal that are essential to its 

 existence and welfare, but which economically considered, aside from this, are of but little 

 value, and which in beef are regarded as waste or offal. If, for instance, the bones are 

 large and coarse, or the head and horns are large in proportion to the size of the body, and 

 ill-shaped, there will be a larger proportion of waste or offal than is necessary, and 

 accordingly a smaller proportion of what is really valuable, while at the same time such an 

 animal will require more food than one of small, fine-textured bones, and good points generally, 

 since it is a fact known to every farmer that it requires a larger proportionate amount of 

 food to make this offal, than it does to produce either flesh or milk. It will require nearly 

 double the quantity of food to fatten a lank, tall, coarse-boned ox, than a finely formed, 

 well-bred animal of the same weight. We know of a western farmer, who a few years 

 since tried the experiment of fattening about 500 Texan steers by stall feeding, having 

 previously prepared stables for the purpose, which had water conducted to them in pipes, 

 with equal facilities for conveying grain and hay. The animals, being semi -wild, were pulled 

 into the stables with lariats, tied to the stanchions, and remained there until fat, which was 

 five months. Every means was used to keep them quiet, the stables being kept partially 

 darkened and no strangers ever admitted. 



Although these animals fattened very well, and brought a good price for beef in the New 

 York market, the experiment was never repeated, for, to use the farmer s words, &quot;the 

 larger price required for good grade Short-Horns would yield a better profit for the feed 

 consumed.&quot; Had this man better understood the laws which govern the animal economy, as 

 well as proper sanitary laws, we doubt whether he would ever have attempted such an 

 experiment when better and more profitable stock were attainable, or have confined 500 

 steers in partially darkened stables for five successive months, without permitting them the 

 exercise of vacating their stables, once during that time. Coarse animals are always large 

 feeders in proportion to their weight, and for any purpose whatever such animals are to be 

 avoided. 



