TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 137 



In many instances, heifers are bred at 15 to 18 months old, 

 but it is better practice to begin breeding them at about 21 

 months so that they drop their first calves at about 30 months. 

 The period of gestation often varies from 274 to 287 days, and 

 the average is about 280 days. 



Value of records. The possibilities for better agriculture 

 through the application of business methods to farming are 

 very great, and this is especially true of live-stock farming. 

 The feeder ought to weigh his cattle regularly, and keep careful 

 and complete records of the weights and of all items of expense 

 incurred in finishing and marketing, so that he may know whether 

 his cattle return him a profit or were fed at a loss. In either 

 case, the records are available for study, and when the next lot 

 is fed, comparisons may be made and benefits derived from past 

 experiences. This is all the more important in the case of feeders 

 who breed their own calves, for then such records are doubly 

 valuable as they greatly assist in determining the producing 

 qualities of the various animals in the breeding herd. If the 

 breeder has records showing the gains made, the cost of the gains, 

 the market prices received, and the dressing percentages of 

 various calves from various cows and by various bulls, he has 

 the best possible measure of the worth of his herd- bull and his 

 breeding cows. If such records are complete they permit com- 

 parisons of one cow with another and one bull with another, 

 thus indicating what animals should be retained as breeders and 

 what ones discarded. If the breeder has a chance to see the 

 carcasses yielded by fat cattle of his own breeding, he should 

 most certainly avail himself of it and talk with some well-quali- 

 fied butcher regarding their merits and faults. By such pro- 

 gressive methods will the breeder forge ahead and obtain the 

 maximum profit and satisfaction from his business. 



In conclusion, there is good opportunity for profit in beef 

 production, and the soil needs the fertility which comes from 

 the keeping of live stock. The factors necessary to insure 

 success in beef production are (1) good blue-grass pastures, 

 (2) better care of pastures, (3) utilization of corn stalks through 

 the use of a silo^build a silo, (4) the growing and feeding of 

 alfalfa, (5) keeping the best heifer calves for breeding purposes, 

 (6) buying only good, purebred, beef bulls to mate with them, 

 and (7) staying by beef production year in and year out, making 

 it a permanent part of farming operations. 



