HOLSTEIN-FRIESIANS FOR BEEF. 



139 



The experimental feeding of half-breed yearling steers at the " Record 

 Farm" of William M. Singerly of Philadelphia, Pa., is thus reported January 30, 

 1886. 



We present a statement of the fattening capacity of four half-breed year- 

 ling Holstein steers. These cattle were born in May and June, 1884, and will be 

 two years old in May and June, 1886. They demonstrate that the Holsteins will, 

 in the near future be as much sought after for their beef-producing abilities as 

 they are now for their milk-giving capacity. It is believed that these steers 

 can be made to average 1,500 Ibs. each by July 1, 1886. 



The progress in cattle feeding is as great, if not greater than in the develop- 

 ment of trotting horses. For a three-year-old trotter a mile in 2:19, or a two- 

 year-old a mile in 2:28 is so exceptional as to be phenomenal, but in cattle 

 breeding and feeding the advancement is even more notable. A herd can now 

 be made to gain in weight at a rate which would have excited wonder ten years 

 ago. The four-year-old steers that could be made to average 1,400 or 1,500 Ibs. 

 were thought to have been successfully fed ; today a feeder who cannot success- 

 fully turn his steers off with that weight at two-years-old had better get out 

 of the business as being unfitted for it. 



The four half-breed steers at the Record Farm were taken from pasture 

 December 4, 1885. The figures in the first column of the table given below show 

 the weight of each steer when put on stall-feed, and the figures in the second 

 column give the weight of each individual on the 22d inst. 



Dec. 4, 1885. 



No. 1, 875 Ibs. 



No. 2, 885 " 



No. 3 880 " 



No. 4, . . 750 " 



Jan. 22, 1886. 

 1,035 Ibs. 



1,080 " 

 1,045 " 



885 " 



Total, . . . 3,340 4,045 



Gain in 49 days, 705 Ibs. ; average gain per head, 176 Ibs. ; average gain per head per day, 3.6 Ibs. 



"The beef of these Holstein cattle from the Record Farms was slaugh- 

 tered at the North Philadelphia Stock Yards and placed on sale at John 

 Riley's stalls in the Farmers market, and the splendid meat attracted much 

 admiration. The four steers and the heifer made more pounds of dressed 

 meat for their age than any cattle ever killed in Philadelphia. The live 

 and dead weights, and the number of pounds of dressed to the one hundred 

 pounds of live weight were as follows : Steer No. 1, 1,475 Ibs. and 899 and 6 ; 

 No. 2, 1,450 Ibs. 940 and 65 ; No. 3, 1,550 Ibs. 978 and 63 ; No. 4, 1,350 Ibs. 850 and 

 63 ; the heifer 1,500 Ibs. 996 and 66 ; the cow 1,725 Ibs. 1.104 and 64. The follow- 

 ing figures show the weight by quarters, the first two being the hind and the 

 last two the fore quarters : Steer No. 1, 218, 211, 236, 234 ; No. 2, 213, 210, 256, 

 261 ; No. 3, 220, 224, 268, 266 ; No. 4, 202, 197, 225, 226; the heifer, 224, 233, 270, 

 269 ; the cow, 255, 254, 296, 299." 



The Smiths & Powell Co. write: In the winter of 1884 and 1885 we caused 

 to be slaughtered the recorded Holstein bull, Syracuse (822), calved April 24, 



