GEAZIiSTG INDUSTRY OF THE BLUEGRASS REGION. 17 



THE SUPPLY OF STOCKERS. 



One of the cliief difficulties of the grazing farmer in the bluegrass 

 region is the lack of stockers. A few cows are kept on nearly every 

 farm, but they produce but a small number of the calves that are needed. 

 The reason that so few calves are raised on the bluegrass lands is be- 

 cause it is more profitable to graze a steer than to keep a cow an en- 

 tire year just for her calf. Dairying does not fit in well in the agricul- 

 tural scheme of the region. There is not sufficient level land in most 

 locaUties to produce the forage necessary to keep a dairy herd in win- 

 ter, and any admixture of dairy blood renders 1,500-pound 3-year-old 

 steers impossible. A few graziers have tried buying yearling heifers, 

 keeping them until they get one calf and then selhng the mothers. 



Fig. 15. — A pasture where weeds have not been mowed. 



By this method they get not only the calf but an increase in the 

 weight of the heifer. Some stockers are purchased in Chicago or 

 Cincinnati, and a few come from Canada, but most of them are raised 

 in the mountains of North CaroHna, Tennessee, West Virginia, and 

 eastern Kentucky by men who keep but a few cows, which range at 

 will. These calves are purchased by local cattle dealers, who sell to 

 the grazing farmers. The quahty of the stock is maintained largely 

 because the best graziers have distributed pure-bred bulls for free 

 service wherever they are most needed. (Fig. 16.) 



There should be a fairly profitable business on the cheaper lands of 

 the Blue Kidge and in the Piedmont section in raising beef-bred 

 calves for the bluegrass graziers. This will necessitate, however, the 

 keeping of a much better grade of beef cattle than is usual. A good 

 beef-bred calf will sell readily when 6 months old for S25 to $30. If 



