BEEF CATTLE 585 



the farms. Beef cattle make the greatest and most profitable use of rough- 

 age and grass, arc comparatively free from disease, require less shelter and 

 attention than other farm animals, enable the farmer to distribute his 

 work uniformly throughout the year and are easily marketed. 



Sources of Profit. — The cattleman has four sources of profit: (1) 

 from growing crops; (2) from feeding crops; (3) from using by-products 

 which otherwise have no market value, such as straw, stover, damaged 

 hay and grain ; and (4) from increasing soil fertility and the yield of crops. 

 It frequently happens that the greatest profit comes from the use of farm 

 by-products and the increase of soil fertility. The successful cattleman of 

 the future must be as good a farmer as the man who produces grain and 

 hay for the market, and also have the ability and judgment to select and 

 feed animals that can convert grain and hay into meat profitably. 



There are four distinct methods of handling beef cattle, dependent 

 upon the amount of capital available and the kind of crops adapted to the 

 farm, as follows: (1) breeding pure-bred cattle, (2) producing stockers and 

 feeders, (3) grazing cattle, and (4) fattening cattle. 



Breeding Pure-Bred Cattle. — This is the highest type of beef produc- 

 tion and requires the investment of a large amount of money for a series 

 of years. The breeder must not only understand and practice the best 

 methods of breeding, feeding and developing livestock, but must also follow 

 the best methods of farming. He should keep the buildings and grounds 

 neat and attractive to impress customers with the fact that breeding pure- 

 bred livestock is profitable and attractive. 



Excellent pasture should be available for summer grazing and the best 

 methods of feeding must be practiced during the winter to develop the 

 inherited type and form to the maximum. More breeders fail because of 

 poor feeding than of any other one factor. In addition to the ability to 

 select the approved type of the breed and to feed successfully, the breeder 

 of pure-bred cattle must be a business man and a salesman so that he can 

 successfully dispose of what he produces. It is usually better for the 

 beginner to start with grade or market cattle and, if he succeeds, to purchase 

 a few pure-bred animals and go into the business gradually, than to invest 

 all his capital in a specialty with which he is unacquainted. 



Producing Stockers and Feeders. — The production of stockers and 

 feeders should be confined to those parts of the country where the larger 

 part of the land cannot be plowed profitably, and grass is the principal 

 crop. This class of cattle is kept on grass during the summer season and 

 fed on roughage, with little or no grain, during the remainder of the year. 

 Lying east of the Rocky Mountains is a large area which is peculiarly 

 adapted to the production of grass and roughage, such as Kaffir and sor- 

 ghums on the uplands, and alfalfa on the bottom land, and which logically 

 should be the great stocker and feeder producing section of the United 

 States. Where both legumes and silage crops are produced, little or no 

 commercial feeds are required. If it is impossible to grow legumes, protein 



