STOCK RAISING AND SOIL FERTILITY 



223 



Texas cattle are those from the 

 ranges of Texas. The term is some- 

 times applied to all cattle from below 

 the quarantine line in the Southwest. 

 They are inferior in breed to either na- 

 tives or westerns, which is manifest in 

 their much lighter structure and the 

 beef from them is of inferior quality. 

 When western cattle are' brought east 

 and fattened in the corn belt they may 

 enter the markets as natives, from which 

 they are practically indistinguishable. 

 Corn-fed Texans may also be practically 

 indistinguishable from natives, es- 

 pecially if they are from ranges, which 

 are using improved stock. The table 

 brings out clearly that the highest prices 

 are paid during the first half of the year, 

 and for native stock. 



Prices for different breeds of cattle 

 — These general classes of cattle, of 

 course, include all the different breeds, 

 the prices for which vary greatly, ac- 

 cording to whether they are of the dairy 

 form or of the beef type. The princi- 

 pal beef types are the Angus, Galloway, 

 Herefords and Shorthorns. These cat- 

 tle and their grades bring the best prices 

 for beef of any cattle offered in the 

 market. 



The choice among packers varies as 

 to their preference for the different 

 breeds. The Cndahy packing company 

 Df Chicago state that they do not dis- 

 criminate as to price in favor of the 

 different breeds, but in paying a fancy 

 price would rather have Shorthorns than 

 the other breeds. This difference in 

 their estimation would only amount to 

 5 cents a hundred pounds. 



Swift and Co. prefer Angus, Short- 

 horn and Galloway cattle three years of 

 age, when thoroughly fattened on grain 

 to Herefords of the same age. Two- 

 year-old Hereford cattle, when fat, are 

 considered equal to the other breeds 

 mentioned, but after the second year the 

 Herefords become unevenly fat. Ham- 

 mond makes practically the same state- 

 ment in regard to Herefords. 



Schwarzschild states that in buying 

 cattle for the United States, and espe- 

 cially for the export trade, preference 



900- 1050- 



Class of cattle 1050 lbs 1200 lbs 



Native $4.75 $4.90 



Western 3.85 4.23 



Average $4.40 $4.57 



is given to Angus steers, since when 

 well fattened on corn, these steers dress 

 out from 1 to 2 pounds a hun- 

 dred pounds live weight more than 

 either Shorthorns, Galloways, Herefords 

 or Holsteins. 'Although the Angus 

 may appear very fat, they will show 

 more lean meat and be less wasteful 

 for the retail butcher than animals of 

 any of the other breeds above men- 

 tioned. The meat itself will show a 

 better and richer grain and is very juicy. 

 The Shorthorns come next and, for the 

 same time and same percentage of feed 

 used, will show considerable fat on the 

 outside, but less lean meat. This fat 

 will be in lumps on the outside, but is 

 very unprofitable for the retailer. Gallo- 

 ways and Herefords come next in qual- 

 ity as well as grain. The Holsteins 

 are very undesirable; being coarse, they 

 do not show much grain in the beef 

 and are especially unprofitable for the 

 retailer. Of the five breeds of cattle 

 mentioned, the Angus is superior to 

 the extent of 10 to 15 cents a hundred 

 pounds live weight." 



Hammond states that the Herefords, 

 Galloways, Shorthorns and Angus, eith- 

 er as thoroughbreds or as three-quarter- 

 bred yearlings, when equally fat are 

 equally valuable for beef. The same is 

 true for two-year-olds, but a change 

 begins to take place at three years, 

 when the Shorthorns grow more bone 

 and become coarser, and when four 

 years old are apt to be too heavy and 

 coarse to bring the top price of the 

 market. Herefords become lumpy by 

 putting the fat on in bunches. 



The weight of stock when marketed 

 stands next to breed as a factor affecting 

 the price received. Cattle are bought 

 and sold by the hundredweight and 

 the price varies in accordance with 

 whether the animal is heavy or light, 

 since the quality of beef is usually supe- 

 rior with the heavier grades. This dif- 

 ference in price is brought out in the 

 following table, which shows the average 

 price in Chicago of beef cattle of dif- 

 ferent weight on selected dates: 



$4.89 



$5.01 



$4.77 



