166 BEEF PRODUCTION 



CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF THE HERD 



There are numerous details in the care and manage- 

 ment which are matters of local interest, and these can 

 not well be considered in this discussion. Such general 

 auestions, however, as the best season to have calves 

 dropped, the age at which to breed heifers, and the best 

 age to dispose of females are points worthy of careful 

 consideration. 



WHEN TO HAVE CALVES DROPPED 



The consensus of opinion is that, everything con- 

 sidered, it is best to breed the cows so they will calve 

 during the spring season, The arguments in favor of this 

 system are that the cows may be wintered cheaper 

 when, not in milk with calves at foot. They require 

 less room for shelter, less careful attention from the 

 attendant, and less protection from the cold. _ If the 

 calves are dropped in the fall it is hardly possible to 

 finish them without carrying through two winters, 

 whereas, if dropped in the spring, they need not be 

 wintered but once, being finished at the age of eighteen 

 to twenty months. If, too, the cattle are marketed at 

 the ages noted, they will have the benefit of two summers 

 of grass, whereas when dropped during the fall season, 

 in order to get the benefit of two seasons of grass, tney 

 must be carried until they are from twenty-four to 

 twenty-six months of age. On the contrary, it is ar- 

 gued by some who favor the fall calf, that a better animal 

 can be produced and developed by this system, because 

 the cow in the fall is in better physical condition to 

 deliver her calf after a period of summering on pasture; 

 that the cow's flow of milk, which has freshened in the 

 fall, will be getting limited by the time she goes to grass 

 and the grass will have a tendency to produce a more 

 abundant supply for the calf; that the calf at that age 

 and time is better able to handle pasture grasses to an 

 advantage than when younger, and to endure heat and 

 the fly season more easily. There is undoubtedly force 



