ECONOMY IN FEEDING LIVE STOCK 149 



his feeding operations accordingly. If the market pays a sufficient pre- 

 mium for thoroly fattened animals he will finish his stock well before 

 marketing them. On the other hand, on local markets which pay no 

 more for a prime carcass than for one carrying less fat, it will not pay 

 to prolong the fattening process or to feed as heavy an allowance of 

 concentrates as is necessary to make the carcass "ripe/* or thoroly fat. 

 (122-3,.715-6, 768, 902) 



200. Adapt type of fanning to local conditions. It is outside the field 

 of this volume to discuss in detail the many factors which the stockman 

 should take into consideration in deciding the type of live-stock hus- 

 bandry in which to engage and the systems and methods to follow. The 

 foregoing paragraphs serve to illustrate how the farm operations and 

 practices should be suited to local conditions, taking into consideration 

 prices of land and labor, nearness to market, and available crops. For 

 example, the beef producer on high-priced land in the eastern part of 

 the corn belt will generally crowd his calves to rapid growth on a heavy 

 allowance of grain and fatten them as baby beef. Or he will raise no 

 cattle, but fatten feeder steers from the western ranges on a liberal 

 allowance of corn. On the other hand, in the West where pasture is 

 cheap compared with grain the stockman will usually follow a less in- 

 tensive system, roughing his growing stock thru the winter and market- 

 ing them from grass as 2- or 3-yr.-olds, having been fed little grain at 

 any time. 



The market milk for our cities must come from the surrounding dis- 

 tricts which are within easy shipping distance. Dairymen maintaining 

 herds on high-priced land to meet this demand properly tend to use a 

 minimum acreage as pasture, but instead rely largely on corn silage or 

 soilage during the summer months. They often buy much of their con- 

 centrates, for grain can be produced on land farther from market and 

 shipped in at less expense than it may be possible to grow it on their 

 farms. Such a system is not, however, economical for the dairyman 

 remote from the large markets, whose milk is used in the manufacture 

 of butter or cheese. Since with him land is relatively less expensive 

 than labor, he must adopt a less intensive system of dairying, where the 

 herd is maintained largely on pasture in the summer. 



The reader will come to realize as he goes on in this book that, while 

 there are no hard and fast rules for successfully managing live stock, a 

 clear understanding of the principles of the nutrition of animals is 

 essential to the highest success. This must be supplemented by good 

 judgment and by a thoro knowledge of the farm animals themselves, 

 which can only be gained by actual experience. He will further find 

 that expensive buildings for housing stock and complex devices for 

 feeding and caring for them are not necessary; that there are no "best" 

 feeds for all conditions ; that elaborate and laborious preparation of feed 

 is often wasted; that patent stock foods guaranteed to work miracles 

 enrich, not the farmer, but the manufacturer. 



