2 4 



of more than 2,200 pounds, for $11.00 per hundred, and adds 

 that at that time the larger and older the cattle, the higher 

 price they brought. Our point of view has changed radically. 

 The market demands have been revolutionized. These huge 

 bullocks are no longer on the market and would be no longer 

 in demand if presented. We have been gradually hastening our 

 cattle to market, cutting down their ages and weights, until 

 a twelve months old steer weighing 800 or 900 pounds will bring 

 as high a price as any other age and weight, provided he be 

 fat, and provided such calves be not offered in too great numt- 

 bers. For the details of this phase of the subject, the reader 

 is referred to the chapter on Factors Affecting the Demands of 

 the Market. Size and weight do not any longer constitute a lim- 

 itation to baby .beef production. According to our present inter- 

 pretation of baby beef, no steer would be so classed outside of 

 his yearling form, and as a rule the maximum age would be 

 from 18 to 20 months, and the maximum weight from 1,100 to 

 1,300 pounds. This means that the feeding operation must be 

 gin with the calf at weaning time and continue without inter- 

 ruption until the calf is fat. Some even go farther and begin 

 the feeding period as soon as the calf is old enough to eat and 

 while it is still running with its dam, and place these animals 

 on the market fully fat at the beginning of June or July, 14 or 

 15 months of age, and weighing from 800 to 1,100 pounds. 



WHY THE FEEDERS PREFER TWO-YEAR-OLD CATTLE. 



There are a number of reasons why the feeder still insists 

 upon making rather heavier cattle, notwithstanding the fact 

 that it costs considerably more to carry them to this age and 

 that it costs somewhat more per pound to finish them after they 

 ^are brought to this point. 



First of all perhaps is the fact that the cattle feeder is as a 

 rule not a cattle raiser. At least he raises only a very small 

 portion of the cattle he feeds. The catle raiser, on the other 

 hand, is, as a rule, not a cattle feeder, seldom feeding even 

 those of his own raising. The raising of cattle and the fitting 

 of them for market are two separate and independent operations, 

 conducted as a rule by two different men, each operating inde- 



