1889.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 325 



laying before you these facts, I would suggest that beef- 

 fattening, like corn-growing, may, as I think, be subsidiary 

 work on a New England farm ; and I cannot therefore too 

 highly commend the enterprise of those who have brought 

 among us the best breeds of cattle for beef and the dairy ; 

 nor can I fail to express my admiration of the wonderful 

 specimens of heavy cattle, pure-bred and grades, which are 

 often found at our agricultural fairs. I consider a well-made 

 working ox to be a part of the economical labor of a well- 

 regulated farm ; and I shall rejoice in their increase in New 

 England, whenever the farmers find it for their interest to 

 use them ; and I am sure every farmer will agree with me 

 that a model dairy cow should be as remarkable for her 

 thrift as for her dairy qualities. 



While you are considering the advantages of fattening 

 beef in New England, and calculating the profits to be 

 derived from beef factories, I desire to call your attention to 

 the methods by which beef on the hoof is brought to the 

 great Western markets, and the expense of getting it there. 



The three greatest markets for cattle in this country are 

 Kansas City, Chicago and St. Louis. Ranch cattle destined 

 for these markets are secured at a cost of about three dollars 

 and forty cents per hundred pounds, at three years old. 

 AVhen a year old, they are purchased for about twelve 

 dollars per head, — or two dollars per hundred live weight 

 of six hundred pounds. They are fed on the ranches until 

 three years old, during which time they usually add three 

 hundred pounds to their weight, and one dollar and sixty 

 cents for each hundred pounds to their value ; making seven- 

 teen dollars as the result of two years' holding, less the 

 expense, which it is safe to place at two dollars per head per 

 year. These animals are called " feeders," and are pur- 

 chased by farmers for about twenty-five dollars per head. 

 Most of them are driven through the corn fields of eastern 

 Kansas, eastern Nebraska, Illinois and Indiana, to be con- 

 verted into beef. It is estimated that corn at twenty cents 

 per bushel can be converted into beef at a profit, at the 

 prices which have obtained during the past ten years. At 

 twenty-five cents per bushel the profit is less certain ; and 

 at thirty cents per bushel the profit is exceedingly doubtful. 



