136 FARM ANIMALS 



The Beef Type vs. the Dairy Type. There is 

 abundant reason why the beef type should be 

 preferred to the dairy type in beef production. 

 In the first place, it has been bred for producing 

 a suitable beef form and the high-priced cuts are 

 present in larger proportion in beef animals than 

 in the dairy type, at least, as a rule. Then, too, 

 the percentage of dressed weight is somewhat 

 higher in beef cattle than in dairy cattle. In 

 Kansas it has been found that steers of the dairy 

 breeds when properly handled make good beef, 

 hi 



but not of so nigh a quality as that secured from 

 well-bred beef animals. The cost of feeding for 

 one hundred pounds of gain in the Kansas ex- 

 periment was $15 for Shorthorns, $17 for Angus, 

 $15 for Jerseys, $15 for Holstein, and $14 to $17 

 for scrub cattle. The relative value of beef and 

 dairy animals for beef production has been thor- 

 oughly tested at the Iowa Experiment Station, 

 where it was found that dairy steers showed a 

 higher percentage of offal and a lower percentage 

 of dressed weight with more fat on the internal 

 organs and a larger percentage of cheap cuts. 

 There was, however, little difference in the fine- 

 ness of grain or quality of the meat. In a recent 

 series of experiments in Minnesota a Jersey-Hol- 

 stein steer cost less to raise and fatten to the age 

 of thirty-eight months than beef steers up to 

 twenty-two months. The dairy steer in this case 

 dressed five per cent, less, but actually carried 

 a higher percentage of loin and higher-priced cuts 

 and, therefore, made good for the lower percent- 

 age of dressed weight. Experiments have shown 

 conclusively that steers from Jersey cows and Angus 

 or Hereford bulls make excellent baby beef. 

 Such cross-bred steers readily pass for Angus or 



