250 INDIAN CORN. 



of making beef is widely various, but, on the whole, 

 unfavorable. One man finds the business lucrative, 

 while another sinks money in it. The difference 

 arises in part, no doubt, from the locality, the breed 

 of the animal, and other circumstances ; but it also 

 depends very much on the method of feeding, and on 

 the man. 



If a few invariably succeed, or even generally suc- 

 ceed, although a larger number may fail, it proves 

 that there is a right method that brings success, and 

 that consequently success ought to be the rule, and 

 failure the exception. ~No man who proceeds blindly 

 in this business can reasonably expect to make it prof- 

 itable. It is as true here as in every other branch of 

 husbandry, that intelligence is essential to prosperity. 



In order to convert corn, or any other feed, into 

 beef to the best advantage, it is important to know, 

 as nearly as possible, how many pounds of the former 

 it requires, on an average, to make a pound of the 

 latter. This does not appear to have been, as yet, 

 very precisely determined, in regard to corn ; there 

 are, however, some data from which a tolerably accu- 

 rate conclusion may be derived. 



There is also another principle, now beginning to 

 be understood among farmers, that should here be 

 kept steadily in view. It is found that a certain 

 amount of food is consumed by every animal before 

 the process of fattening commences. When a steer is 

 brought up to the point where this process begins, it 

 requires a definite quantity of provender to keep him 

 in that condition. If fed beyond that point, the excess 



