BEEF CATTLE 173 



born in the spring and sold at eighteen months of age they are 

 *' carried over" only one winter. This is a point in their favor 

 as less money is spent on shelter for them. 



Feeder Cattle. — Many sections of the country are primarily 

 adapted to the production of forage crops. There are only 

 a few places in any country where grass or hay alone will make 

 cattle good enough to be in good demand at the market centers. 

 In such places the grass is especially abundant and exceed- 

 ingl}^ good. In other places beef cattle must have grain in 

 addition to their roughages. Out of this circumstance has 



Fig. 20. — A group of shorthorns. University of Illinois 



grown the trade in feeder or stock cattle, and the cattle-feeding 

 business. 



Feeders or stock cattle are cattle that have been pretty 

 well grown and are purchased by the cattle-feeder and fattened. 

 Handling such cattle is largely a fattening proposition, calHng 

 for corn and other fattening feeds. Both growing and fatten- 

 ing cattle are legitimate and occupy an important place in 

 the cattle industry, but it seems that for the average general 

 purpose farm cattle can be grown and finished at the same 

 place with the largest amount of profit. Cattle then can be 

 fattened with due regard for the way in which they were bred 

 and grown. Besides, this plan means a great saving in trans- 

 portation charges, dealers commissions, etc. 



The rules for feeding growing animals apply to the fattening 

 of animals, except that less of protein and more of carbohy- 

 drate feeds are used ; also less roughages and more concentrates. 



