CATTLE GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 799 



of cattle. The scales will tell you what animals are gaining 

 the most, and these are the ones to keep for feeders. If you 

 find that you have cattle that are not gaining, or that are gain- 

 ing but little, the sooner they are sold the better. 



A common mistake with the beginner is to take an animal 

 from the pasture in the fall, or, perhaps, a month or two later, 

 when it has been at the straw-stack, or on stalk-pasture, and 

 begin heavy grain feeding at once. This is almost certain to re- 

 sult in indigestion and loss. Our experienced feeders do not 

 expect to get their cattle on full feed under a month, and even 

 a longer time is recommended. 



I think it a mistake to buy cattle in the fall from the pas- 

 tures to feed for a spring market. In the transition from grass 

 to dry food they will lose weight unless grain feeding is begun 

 at once and even then it will be difficult to make them gain 

 much for a month and to feed from the first of November till 

 spring is too long a time, ordinarily, to stall-feed at a profit. 

 Occasionally a lot of cattle can be kept in stalls on full feed 

 for a longer period than one hundred days, but, as a rule, it is 

 not advisable to try to feed longer; and I think there can be lit- 

 tle question that the chances for increase of weight, and also for 

 a paying price, are better if this term of one hundred days be- 

 gins in mid-winter rather than in autumn. 



If cattle are to be sold in December, feeding should begin 

 before they are taken from the pasture, and they should be so 

 managed that they will not feel the transition from grass to dry 

 food. If, however, they are to be fed for a spring market, it is 

 considered a decided advantage that they should have but little 

 grain for a few weeks after leaving pasture. They should not 

 be allowed to get poor, but should be fed well on hay or corn- 

 fodder. This is what feeders call "getting the gross out of 

 them;" and just as a hog that has summered on a diet of clover 

 is in a better condition to take on fat than one that has made an 

 equal or greater growth on a corn diet, so these cattle will have 

 their digestive organs in such a condition that they will bear 

 longer and heavier feeding and give better returns for the grain. 

 I think this of special importance when one is buying cattle to 



