284 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



varying greatly with the individual, and with how he has been fed 

 previously, it is very much easier to make him lay on fat than before. 

 This of course is saying that with the decline in the tendency to 

 grow comes a corresponding increase in the tendency to fatten. These 

 are all matters of common observation among feeders. Particularly 

 has the ease with which older cattle may be made fat, and the com- 

 paratively short feeding period necessary to bring this about become 

 a matter of common observation and likewise the great difficulty ex- 

 perienced in making young animals fat and the long time required 

 to accomplish it. 



Starting with six months old calves in good flesh, twelve months 

 is the minimum time in which these animals may be made thick and 

 prime, whereas three year old or four year old steers, of similar qual- 

 ity and much thinner in flesh to start with, may be made prime in 

 less than six months. Or, the same principle may be illustrated in 

 another way. To make a six months old calf crime will require the 

 laying on of from 600 to 750 pounds of additional weight, making 

 the finished animal weigh from 1,100 to 1,250 pounds, and requir- 

 ing, as has been said before, some twelve months of full feeding. 

 Whereas, a three year old steer, even thin in flesh at the outset, may 

 be made strictly prime by the addition of 400 pounds, weighing at 

 the close of the feeding period between 1,450 and 1,550 pounds. 

 (Mo. B. 76.) 



Young Cattle Must Be Fat to Sell Well. Attention has already 

 been called to the fact that the yearling must be fully finished to sell 

 well. This fact, while so well known to the experienced feeder, is so 

 often overlooked that it will bear further emphasizing in this con- 

 nection. It seems to be a well established law in the cattle trade that 

 the older and larger the animal is, the less fat beyond a certain point 

 it is required to carry to sell well up toward the top of the market for 

 its class. It not infrequently occurs that heavy three year olds will 

 bring the top of the market for heavy cattle, while a yearling equally 

 fat would not sell within 50 cents of the market, and might even be 

 classed on the market as a well advanced feeder rather than as a fat 

 steer. In this connection the reader is again referred to the replies 

 from the commission men and packers in relation to the factors 

 affecting the demands of the market. One cannot fail to be im- 

 pressed with the unanimity with which these men agree that the so- 

 called dressed beef steer, or the 2 year old, weighing from 1,300 to 

 1,400 pounds, is in most active demand and sells at a better price one 

 day with another, year after year, than any other age or weight of 

 similar quality and of equal finish. It is furthermore significant that 

 the feeder has said with striking unanimity that the 2 year old steer 

 weighing between 1,300 and 1,400 pounds has returned him the 

 greatest profit. (Mo. B. 76.) 



The Feeder. The average feeder may not be guilty of getting 

 his cattle too fat. For this reason it is sometimes sugge*sted that he 

 be encouraged to get his cattle as fat as possible, in order not to fall 

 below the market requirements. While it is doubtless true that many 

 feeders fail to eet the proper finish to their cattle, this is no reason 



