BREEDING BEEF CATTLE. 



thoroughbred. An inferior bull should never be used under any 

 circumstances. Heifers should not be subjected to the bull at so 

 early an age as for dairy purposes. Two years is young enough, 

 for it is desirable that they have full opportunity to reach maturity 

 aud a fair size. 



Proper Age to Slaughter Beef Cattle Beef cattle 

 should not be kept longer than four years. This is especially in 

 regard to cattle of good breeds. They reach their proper ripeness 

 at from three to four years of age. Short-horn, Hereford, 

 throughbred, or high grades of stocks usually attain a weight 

 of sixteen hundred to two thousand pounds during the fall and 

 winter next preceding their slaughter, and lighter weight cattle 

 fifteen hundred to sixteen hundred pounds. Up to this point, cattle 

 may be profitably kept, but not longer, unless they are intended for 

 exhibition. Common herds will not fatten so well at the age men- 

 tioned, but in reality, where the very best beef is sought or where 

 the breeder is looking to the utmost return from his herd, these are 

 really not desirable cattle to be fattened. 



Value of Cross Breeding for Beef Production 

 The crossing of native cows with well-bred stocks, where the sole 

 object is beef, is desirable, as it enables these poorer classes of cattle 

 to be turned to better account. This is illustrated forcibly by the 

 experience of breeders in the State of Texas, where, according to the 

 Report of the Superintendent of the Census, in 1880, the introduc- 

 tion of high-grade Short-horn bulls from Kansas and Missouri 

 among the herds in the Pan Handle of Texas was attended with the 

 utmost success, the second cross between such bulls and the Texas 

 cows being estimated to average, in good herds, eleven hundred 

 pounds at three and-a-half years old, while the native Texan steer of 

 the same age could only be made to attain a weight of eight hun- 

 dred and five pounds. But the report adds that the further improve- 

 , ment of the herds beyond the first cross of the Short-horn bull 

 and the Texas cow is not deemed advisable, since the high-grade 

 thus produced fails to thrive as well as the half-breed during the 

 scarcity of feed, not being as good a " hustler " as the straight Texas 

 or half-breed. 



Best Breeds for Producing Beef The first in the list 

 of beef -producing animals is the SHORT-HORN breed. The Short- 

 horns have the utmost merit as a flesh-producing animal, for they 

 arrive at maturity at a very early age, and are perhaps the most 

 desirable stock for the purpose of grading up a herd of common 

 cattle. At three years a well-fed short-horn is fit for the shambles. 

 His breed gives a quick return both for the feed and money in- 

 vested, and is very desirable for the breeder. 



THE DEVON is entitled to a place in the first rank, for the 

 delicacy of the flesh and the fineness of its fiber. It matures early 

 as early as the Short-horn and its meat is considered as having a 

 finer grain, being more juicy, and lean and fat more desirably inter- 



