412 EEPOET OF THE BTJEEAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTEY. 



changed his plans so far as to usually fatten Ms steers at two years 

 old, instead of keeping them until they were four or five years old, 

 but to the last he adhered to this simple system of outdoor feeding, 

 and without stabling his cattle. That his cattle were of the first 

 rank was abundantly demonstrated, but many thought that the in- 

 creasing value of his lands and the higher prices for corn had so 

 changed the conditions that greater profit would have been secured 

 from systems more careful of the food used. His was the most 

 marked instance of success in a system practiced by hundreds. 



There are many thousands of "f arms in the great cattle-growing 

 region, farms of more moderate extent, on which cattle are not the 

 chief product. Thus there may be ten or twenty cows. In many 

 cases these are milked, butter made, and the calves reared on the 

 skimmed milk. In many other cases, where the cows suckle their 

 calves, a second calf is purchased and reared after the first is weaned. 

 The calves are fed grain or meal as soon as they will eat it. Among 

 farmers of this class who make butter-making somewhat prominent, 

 having the calves dropped in the autumn rather than in the spring- 

 is frequently preferred, not only because winter dairying is more 

 profitable but because it is believed the calves do better, as they are 

 well grown when put on the pastures in the spring, and come to the 

 second winter better fitted for it than does the spring-dropped calf 

 to its first winter. Partly because he has a smaller number, such a 

 farmer as we now have in mind more frequently provides shelter in 

 winter for all his cattle. Frequently he buys from neighbors, in re- 

 gions in which corn is less abundant, steers one or two years old to 

 fatten with those reared on his own farm. 



There are few methods in which beef is produced at lower cost, 

 where grain is used at all freely, than by many such farmers, who 

 buy yearlings or two-year-old steers at the opening of winter, keep 

 them through the winter on coarse and low-priced food, give them 

 abundant grass the next summer, and, as the Indian corn begins to 

 mature, about September 1, commence feeding this liberally, at first 

 cutting the stalks, which are readily eaten, later pulling the ears 

 from the stalks without removing the husks, and still later feeding 

 the husked ears. Good steers will frequently add 250 to 275 pounds 

 to their weight in three months by feeding on the grass in pleasant 

 autumn weather, often adding 1 cent per pound to their value. The 

 one chief disadvantage to this method is that the cattle go to the 

 markets at a time when these are especially crowded with the grass- 

 fattened cattle from the plains, with consequent lower prices. 



There is a growing appreciation of the gain from more early ma- 

 turity in cattle, and the average age at which beeves are sent to 

 market has been steadily reduced of recent years. But it is still 

 true that the percentage of yearlings slaughtered is small. There 

 is a wide-spread belief that from thirty to thirty-six months old is 

 the more profitable age, under generally existing conditions. 



As was to have been expected, with the growing density of popu- 

 lation, advance in the price of farm lands and of feeding stuffs, 

 there is a rapidly increasing number of cattle reared and fattened 

 under careful management in every regard. This is more especially 

 true in the eastern and northern portions of the beef -making regions. 

 Many thousands of beeves are annually stall-fed in comfortable 

 stables, and fed on carefully prepared rations, in which, while In- 

 dian corn usually is a chief element, oats, bran, and oil cake are 

 freely used. Thousands of cattle are annually fed on the by-prod- 



