770 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



IX. 



CATTLE GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 



IN quite an extensive experience in buying cattle, I have had 

 a chance to observe the management on a large number 

 of farms, and my conclusion is that in many cases the 

 owners realize no profit from them, barely getting paid for 

 what they feed them, or (as is the case in some instances) 

 actually losing money. I also came to the conclusion that in 

 most cases this was due to the parsimony, carelessness, or want 

 of management of the owner, and that attention to a few points 

 easily within control of the owner would prevent loss. 



Mistakes of Stockmen. The first wrong step is in se- 

 lecting the sire, the farmer getting the service of the bull that 

 will cost the least. In many neighborhoods I have known the 

 services of a thoroughbred Short-horn offered for the sum of two 

 dollars, and not patronage enough obtained to pay the expense 

 of keeping. It is quite a common practice to allow a bull calf to 

 run till a year or fifteen months old and sire a few calves and 

 then castrate him, and it is not uncommon to find several year- 

 ling bulls on a farm. A calf that has run to this age without 

 castration will always be classed as a stag, and will not bring as 

 much when fat by one or two cents a pound as a good smooth 

 steer. It requires no special skill to castrate a calf a week old, 

 and any fanner can do it and the calf scarcely feels it at all, 

 but the longer it is postponed, the more difficult, and severe, 

 and dangerous the operation becomes. Until acquainted with 

 the facts, it is difficult to believe how large a per cent of the 

 male calves are injured by allowing them to run too long with- 

 out castration. 



The next point I notice in unprofitable cattle raising is 



