HINTS ON SELECTION, CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF CATTLE. 225 



The typical outline for meat excellence should be sought in an ani- 

 mal full and even at all points, but expecially well rounded at the parts 

 which carry beef of highest price and quality. Animals which lay on fat 

 in bunches are objectionable, as are, also, those which carry an immense 

 bony frame too large to be ever fully loaded. To put the matter in a 

 nut-shell: In selecting for beef, choose always the animal which will 

 dress the largest amount of high-priced beef and the least proportion of 

 low-priced beef and offal. The parts to be favored then, are: shoulders, 

 fore ribs, loins, haunches and hams; and the parts to be curtailed as 

 much as possible are: head, neck, legs and belly. Beef is the end 

 if not the aim of all cattle, and on the great ranges of the West, until 

 the fertile prairies are dotted with settlers' homes, the beef breeds will 

 hold an undisputed sway. 



Third. Between these two extremes of milk and beef stands the 

 general-purpose animal the one of all others which must always play a 

 prominent part in the economy of thousands of small farms throughout 

 the United States. The small farmer demands a cow which will not 

 only furnish a fair quantity of milk and butter, but also carry at the 

 same time a frame of good size, and show a natural tendency to flesh 

 when not in milk. Steers from such cows make profitable feeders, and 

 the cows themselves when rendered unfit for breeding by any cause, as 

 accident or age, may be fed for the butcher and turned into cash at 

 minimum loss. To select such an animal, requires ability to discover 

 and appreciate the good points, when partially hidden by others of per- 

 haps equal worth, but opposite indications. With this perceptive 

 ability, and a knowledge of the good points of both beef and dairy 

 types, a man will experience little difficulty in selecting cattle for any 

 desired purpose. 



Concerning care and management for the herd, we are pleased to 

 present the following letters from practical breeders in different portions 

 of the United states : 



Holstein - Friesians, 



"LAKESIDE FARM, Syracuse, N. Y., July 24, :888. 



* * * * " The methods of feeding and caring for our stock are extremely 

 simple. Calves are taken from dams when a day or two old and fed for a few weeks, 

 new, full milk ; then, as the calf gets age and strength, we take away the full milk, and 

 in its place give centrifugally separated skim-milk. We also give, dry, a small amount of 

 ground oats and wheat bran, the amount of either food depending on the condition and 

 assimilative powers of the animal. As the animal develops, we add to the amount of 

 dry and liquid food given, as we think the calf will digest and assimilate it, until it 

 reaches an age and development that warrants taking the milk away and supplying hay 

 and grain. We always leave a little hay in manger, that the calf may eat ad libitum. In 

 summer we send the females to pasture, and the males are kept in stable, but are given 

 frequent exercise in open air yards or paddocks. We commence using the bulls at 

 about a year old. We aim to breed the heifers, conditions being favorable, when about 

 15 to 16 months old, so that they will calve after two years old. As the time approaches 



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