CHAPTER XT. 



MAKING CHRISTMAS BEEF 



The fattening of cattle with especial reference to 

 their fitness for Christmas market requirements has 

 become a speciality among quite a large number of 

 cattle feeders. While the demand for Christmas beef 

 is limited it has thus far been sufficiently extensive to 

 absorb the supply offered and that at good prices. The 

 prices paid in the leading markets for prime Christmas 

 beef look attractive to the average beef producer who 

 is not very closely in touch with market conditions. 

 These prices frequently tempt men to feed cattle for 

 this particular market that are not at all suited for the 

 trade. The good prices are only paid for the prime 

 cattle and to make prime cattle requires careful atten- 

 tion to every detail of the enterprise, including the selec- 

 tion of the feeding cattle to be finished and the fattening 

 of them. It requires skill of a high order to produce 

 cattle that are good enough in quality and condition to 

 attract buyers during the holiday season. The produc- 

 tion of such cattle is by no means an easy or sure way 

 to secure profits in the cattle feeding business. It 

 requires choice to fancy quality in feeding cattle to begin 

 with, and it is but seldom that such cattle can be pur- 

 chased except at a premium. Then, frequently, it is 

 desirable in order to secure the highest finish to feed 

 some nitrogenous commercial feeds which are relatively 

 high priced, and lastly, in order to secure the high finish 

 demanded requires an extended feeding period. The 

 experienced cattle feeder recognizes at once that the 

 factors enumerated above each increase materially the 

 cost of production. This increased cost amounts to 

 considerable when all these factors are combined. 



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