PROOF PILED ON PROOF 785 



today out of 16,000 breeding cows the nearest ap- 

 proach to an off-color is something spotted showing 

 the result of the Shorthorn-Hereford cross. Fig- 

 ured out in the way of fractions the commercial 

 herd which for ten years has been sending all of its 

 progeny to cornbelt feedlots with good records both 

 there and in the showrings will show within a frac- 

 tion of 99 99/100 per cent purebred Hereford. 



A strong bull tally is a part of the Swenson pol- 

 icy, one aged bull to sixteen cows, and in addition to 

 that all the bulls whether of their own raising or 

 purchased are turned out in their yearling period, 

 though not counted in the breeding complement. 

 Naturally they sire a few calves, but in the main the 

 benefit of turning them out is to acquaint them 

 thoroughly with the range and to get them accli- 

 mated and so give them a usefulness that cannot be 

 obtained in any other way. 



Yearling heifers are not bred at all. The entire 

 yearling crop is pruned 10 per cent every season 

 and that cut is sent to the block. The Swensons con- 

 sider that this early pruning before maturity with 

 a careful subsequent culling as development may 

 suggest, leaves a uniformity of type which could not 

 be obtained by waiting until the cows had served 

 their period of usefulness before pruning. The av- 

 erage winter loss on the ranch, or the average loss 

 from .all causes for twelve months, is about 5 per 

 cent. 



The Swensons bought the entire Spur property, 

 but never mixed the Spur herd with the SMS and 



