CHAPTER XX 

 HOW TO PRODUCE FARM ANIMALS 



How farm animals are secured. There are two ways 

 in general practice of securing animals for the farm. One 

 is by purchase, the other by raising them. 



Many farmers do not attempt to raise their own stock, 

 but buy it instead, especially beef cattle and, to a certain 

 extent, sheep and hogs. Beef cattle bought as " feeders " 

 illustrates this practice. The " feeders " are generally too 

 much lacking in weight and finish for sale to packers. Their 

 cost is considerably less per hundred pounds than the cost 

 of cattle in a finished condition. The feeder, therefore, has 

 two possible sources of profit: the gain in price per hundred 

 between cost and selling price; and the gain in weight taken 

 on by the animals during the feeding period. For example, 

 if cattle weighing 900 pounds are bought at $11 per 

 hundred and sold at a weight of 1300 pounds at $16 per 

 hundred, for each animal there will be a gain of $109. 

 Part of this profit, $45, represents the difference .between 

 the buying and selling price. This difference is sometimes 

 called the spread or margin. The rest of the profit comes 

 from the 400 pounds gain made by the animals. This amounts 

 to $64. 



Importance of well-bred animals. The same principles 

 apply to the production of animals on the farm as to the 

 production of high-yielding farm plants. Improved animals, 

 or those that are well bred, are always more desirable than 



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