FARM ANIMALS 135 



it is not possible to have stables or shelters too 

 cold for fattening steers in a climate like that of 

 Pennsylvania, provided the animals are kept dry 

 and properly bedded. 



Salt. Among the cattle raisers of Illinois eighty- 

 five per cent, use barrel salt, while seven per cent, 

 use rock salt. Sixty-five per cent, of the feeders 

 keep the salt before the cattle all the time and thirty- 

 five per cent, feed it at regular intervals. On the 

 western ranges it is customary to use rock salt 

 in large chunks placed in certain localities which 

 eventually become known as cattle licks. 



Water. It is a matter of some importance 

 that the supply of water should be abundant and 

 clean. The economy of this matter will deter- 

 mine whether liberal expenditures for self-water- 

 ing devices should be incurred or not. As a rule, 

 it has not been found desirable to warm water 

 in winter, except where there is danger of freezing. 

 So long as water does not freeze no economy has 

 been found in supplying artificial heat. 



Breeds as Related to Gains. Among Illinois 

 cattle raisers fifty per cent, believe that Shorthorns 

 give the best result, twenty per cent, favor the 

 Herefords and eighteen per cent, the Angus. 

 This is, however, somewhat a matter of opinion. 

 In careful experiments carried out under scientific 

 conditions the gains in different breeds have not 

 been found to vary appreciably and no conclu- 

 sions can be drawn from such experiments. As 

 a rule fine grades or pure-bred beef breeds give 

 better results than poorly bred animals, but even 

 this conclusion cannot be deemed infallible, for 

 in some instances scrub cattle have yielded larger 

 returns than pure breeds when kept under the 

 same conditions. 



