CATTLE AND DMRY FARMING. 



47 



I have considered this subject of sufficient importance to make inquir- 

 ies concerning it in England. A friend in that country sends me the 

 following newsimper extract, which I hope may prove of some value at 

 home: 



EXPERIMENTS IN FATTENING STEERS. 



Professor Brown, experimental superintendent of the Ontario Agricultural College, 

 writes in bis official report on the above subject: 



In speaking of the weight of a fattened steer, and the daily increase it makes, we 

 have to consider breed, weight of calf when dropped, food, management, and ago. 

 The nearer birth the greater the daily rate until the calf weight is lost among tho 

 tens-of-hundreds. Thus, a calf weighing 7uO pounds is duo about 10 per cent, to its 

 birth weight ; tho yearling that weighs 1,000, 7 per cent. ; tho two-year-old scaling 

 1,500, 5 per cent. ; and tho finished, or rather tho over-fed, show beast of 13,000 pounds 

 can only record about threo and three-fourths of its weight as obtained from tho 

 overage birth-weight of 75 pounds. Until the animal, therefore, is over 1,000 pounds, 

 .wo should always remember the effect of this birth-weight ; thereafter it maybe left 

 out of calculation. 



Tho example I wish to submit to our breeders and feeders now, is that of a pure 

 white, thoroughbred shorthorn steer, calved 6th May, 1881, bred by Mr. Hudson, of 

 Myrtle, and bought by us from Mr. Hope, of Bow Park. On the 9th of April, when 703 

 days old, it weighed 1,710 pounds, which, of course, gives a daily rate of 2.43 pounds; 

 the calf- weight from this would reduce the actual daily increase to '2.33 pounds ; 

 something, no doubt, but not enough to interfere when understood in practice. A 

 yearling steer over 1,700 poundff is unquestionably a fine example of what breed, food, 

 and management can do, and if wo do not spoil him he should scale 2,000 pounds 

 when two years and four months old, at tho Provincial Exhibition at Guelph, on 25th 

 September. 



Some interesting experiments were also made for beef and milk with Hereford and 

 Aberdeen poll grade steer calves. On this phase of the Canadian experiments Pro- 

 fessor Brown says : 



Having now got over the initiatory work of establishing herds, and acclimatizing 

 breeds, we are diverting considerable attention to the making of grades for milk and 

 beef respectively. Our progress in milk experiments is in advance of the other, as 

 evidenced in previous reports, as also is this advance issue. We make no excuse for 

 this. Our past beefing experiments have been with high-graded shorthorns, and the 

 facts, to date, are sufficient to base upon in any comparison with other grades, as we 

 will have to do when time calls ; and what I wish to do is to place on record what 

 our farm has on hand for such a purpose. The same cows, well-graded shorthorns, 

 averaging six years, that have been used to produce the steers, with a thorough-bred 

 shorthorn bull, were selected to mate with the Hereford and Aberdeen poll bulls. 

 Necessarily, one of the difficulties is to arrange about equal birth-dates, and another 

 is to get bull-calves. We havo been more fortunate with the latter than the former, 

 as shown by the following list : 



Hereford grade steers : 9th April, 1882, Huntingdon, No. 184 (ear label) ; Cth Octo- 

 ber, 1882, Heathfield, No. 193 (ear label) ; 28th October, 1882, Hartford, No. 191 (ear 

 label). 



Aberdeen poll grade steers : 24th June, 1882, Aberdeen, No. 183 ; 27th June, 1882, 

 Aboyne, 179: 2d August, 1882, Abernethy, No. 182. 



The average Hereford steer is, therefore, thirty-four days younger than the Aber- 

 deen poll average, and this must be most carefully noted in all future reporting. 



OD Oth April, 1883, tho earliest birth of tho lot, when a Hereford was one year old, 

 weights, ages in days, and daily rates were as follows : 



A moan of 2.73 for the Hereford and 2.64 for the Aberdeen polL 



