CHAPTER XXIII. 



COST OF REARING CALVES ALLOWED TO 

 NURSE THEIR DAMS 



The question, "What does it cost to raise a 450-lb. 

 calf?" is one which has been raised a multitude of times 

 in the minds of the beef producers of this country. 

 It has been raised in the East, in the corn-belt, and on the 

 range. It requires but a very superficial study of the 

 subject to become convinced that the cost varies widely 

 in different sections of the country and under different 

 systems of management. It is not our purpose to 

 discuss the cost of range-bred calves, but rather to discuss 

 what are commonly spoken of as native calves. Nor is 

 it our purpose at this time to attempt to show the cost 

 of rearing skim-milk calves, but to confine this discussion 

 to the j:ost of raising calves where cows of pronounced 

 Heef breeding are maintained solely for the calves which 

 they produce, the latter being allowed to nurse the 

 former. In other w ords, these, heefcbreeding cows- are 

 kept for the production and rearing of one calf, each 

 annually. 



Before attempting to itemize the cost of producing 

 such calves, it will be well to discuss some of the con- 

 ditions which affect such a statement. There are three 

 principal conditions of circumstances which affect the 

 cost of production of beef calves. They are : First, the 

 market value of the land. Second, the natural adapta- 

 bility of the land for cattle raising. Third, the grade of 

 calves produced. The first and second items might at 

 first thought appear to refer to about the same thing, but, 

 as a matter of fact, they may introduce quite different 

 conditions. For example, we can understand how some 

 land valued at $50 per acre would be about as valuable 



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