CHAPTER XXXII 



BEEF CATTLE 



That part of husbandry by the exercise of which one may quickly become 

 rich is the grazing of cattle well. That part by the exercise of which one may 

 have a tolerably good income is grazing cattle indifferently. CATO 



494. Beef production. The value of beef cattle in the United 

 States exceeds the value of all other farm stock combined. Large 

 areas of cheap grazing lands have been the principal basis of 

 the beef-cattle industry. More than two thirds of the beef cattle 

 in the United States are west of the Mississippi River. 



The Western pastures, however, are being rapidly converted 

 into farms. Not since the country was first settled has it con- 

 tained so few beef cattle in proportion to population as now, 

 and the need of cattle to maintain the fertility of farm lands is 

 greater than ever. If we are to continue to produce as much 

 beef as we eat, the beef industry will have to be extended on the 

 general farms throughout the eastern half of the United States. 

 There is no other farm animal which can use so large an amount 

 of coarse feed, which can thrive in so wide a range of conditions 

 of climate and attention, or which is so nearly free from disease 

 and misfortune as the beef animal. 



All our improved races of beef cattle originated in Great 

 Britain, and have descended from two types of large cattle 

 brought into that country during the Anglo-Saxon invasion. 

 The principal breeds of beef cattle are the Shorthorn, the 

 Hereford (Fig. 192), the Aberdeen Angus, and the Galloway. 



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