THE BEEF BREEDS OF CATTLE 225 



has not been confined to the cattle-growers of the United 

 States, but has overflowed the borders into Mexico and 

 Canada and now bids fair to leave a similar impress on 

 the beef-producing herds of those countries. 



259. Merits of Herefords. For some years the appre- 

 ciation of the Herefords was based mainly on their ability to 

 withstand hardships and produce beef on grass and under 

 the rigorous conditions of the range. Later, when the con- 

 ditions on the ranges had changed somewhat, the range- 

 raised grade Hereford steers found their way into the feed- 

 lots of the corn-growing states, where they gave an even 

 better account of themselves in the matter of quick-feeding, 

 economy of production, and quality of product when 

 finished, than they did on the ranges. At first only steers 

 two years old and over were admitted to the feed-lots, 

 but later high-grade steer calves of this breed were taken 

 directly from the range into the feed-lots. This opened up 

 a new field in the production of high-class beef. The 

 experiments in full-feeding high-grade calves were so 

 satisfactory that a great demand for this class of feeding 

 cattle has resulted. The calves are taken from their 

 mothers on the range at weaning age in the fall and are 

 shipped directly to the feed-lots, where they are full-fed 

 and grazed for about twelve months. Then, as yearlings, 

 they go to market weighing 1000 to 1200 pounds, where 

 they are known as " baby beef," a product that is not 

 produced so successfully and profitably from the grades 

 of any other breed of cattle as from the Hereford. 



At the time that Hereford bulls were introduced on 

 the ranches, herds of pure-bred Herefords in America 

 were few in number and small in size, so that they were 

 unable more than partially to supply this demand, with 

 the result that Hereford bulls were high in price. This 



