3 



buying elsewhere. And again a large proportion of cattle feed- 

 ers have retired from their farms, moved to town and are renting 

 their farms. Under prevailing conditions a renter cannot afford 

 to stock a farm, as his lease has to be renewed annually, while the 

 man who produces cattle must necessarily be able to live on the 

 same farm through a series of years. The exceptionally high 

 prices paid for butter during the last few years, together with 

 the increased price for veal calves, have tempted many farmers 

 to sacrifice a good beef calf as veal and milk an unprofitable cow. 



Not only has the supply been diminished, but the quality has 

 declined due to the fact that a large majority of farmers keep just 

 enough cows to supply their families with milk and butter. The 

 result is that cows have been selected which show marked dairy 

 form and characteristics rather than the beef type and conforma- 

 tion. As the cows are kept to supply dairy products it is prefera- 

 ble to have them come "fresh" at different times in the year, in 

 order that the dry cows may be replaced by fresh ones. The calf 

 crop is thus very uneven in size. Little attention is paid to the 

 kind of a sire used as the calves being considered of little value 

 are generally sent to the butcher as veal. Those which escape 

 this market are frequently raised at a loss. 



The use of inferior sires is common with the small farmer, 

 as he does not appreciate the value of the pure bred sire and there- 

 fore does not feel justified in buying a registered bull of the mod- 

 ern beef type to use on a few cows, but instead either buys a bull 

 calf for $20 or $30, uses him. for one year, sells him at a slight 

 advance over cost price or depends on using his neighbor's. The 

 cows not having been selected with a view of producing typical 

 beef calves, are of indiscrimnate breeding. Frequently beef, 

 dairy and scrub breeding will be found in the same herd. These 

 mated to the same bull, at different seasons of the year bring 

 forth a calf crop lacking as much in uniformity of age, breeding, 

 type, conformation and color as it is possible to conceive of. When 

 a farmer has produced a bunch of high grade steers, which are 

 best suited for the feeder it has not been due to accident but 

 rather to thought, time and money expended for that purpose. 

 When this has been done he fully appreciates their value and as a 

 rule wants to feed them out. 



