FEEDING AND MANAGEMENT OF BEEF CATTLE 



BY R. S. CURTIS. 



Reasons for Feeding. 



The reasons for feeding beef cattle in the South are evident to those 

 who have given soil management serious consideration. While it is 

 not absolutely necessary to feed cattle on the farm to maintain the fer- 

 tility of the soil, it is recognized as an important factor toward this end. 

 The by-products of cottonseed are at our door and the South at present 

 is using for cattle feeding purposes only a small portion of the cotton- 

 seed meal which it manufactures. The exports of cottonseed and cotton- 

 seed meal are approximately 1,000,000 tons yearly, while large amounts 

 of the meal used in the State are used directly for fertilizing purposes. 

 This seems like a grave mistake when a good grade of feeding cattle can 

 be obtained in the mountains of the State to turn this cottonseed meal 

 into beef and manure. .If the feeders of other States can afford to ship 

 these cattle for feeding purposes, there seems to be no good reason why 

 they should not be fed in this State on cottonseed meal which has nearly 

 double the feeding- value of corn. Many of these feeding cattle are 

 handled by two* of three parties, each realizing their profit, after which 

 Virginia, Tennessee or South Carolina feeders fatten them and realize 

 even then satisfactory returns on the transaction. If our farmer feeders 

 buy these cattle direct from the growers, thus saving the middleman's 

 profit, it will be a good investment to aid in restoring some of the im- 

 poverished farms. 



It may be conservatively stated that all farmers who will feed a few 

 beef cattle each winter, will soon double and even triple the value of 

 their cultivated lands. Manure will bring about permanent improve- 

 ment in the soil which commercial fertilizers as ordinarily used can not 

 accomplish alone. The fertilizing value of cottonseed meal used for 

 feeding purposes and returned in the manure will be at least seventy- 

 five per cent of its original value. Therefore by feeding it to beef cattle 

 its entire feeding value, and three-fourths of its fertilizing value can be 

 obtained against its fertilizing value alone when used directly in the 

 field. 



A proposition of this kind which has been shown to be practical by 

 actual demonstration should cause many farmers to give the matter 

 serious consideration. Educaton along this line is imperative. It means 

 richer farm lands and larger and more profitable crops for those who 

 use conservative judgment in putting the practice into operation. 



The Beef Cattle Industry in North Carolina. 



The beef cattle industry at present is in an unsatisfactory condition 

 for two reasons. First, many of the farmers who feed cattle live in the 

 city, having regular employment therein, and are conducting their 

 farms as an adjunct to their city business. This necessitates the em- 

 ployment of laborers usually very unskilled in the feeding and manage- 



