A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



are known now as "heavies." Then twos were the 

 next step towards youth in the favored class, and 

 finally yearlings. I have never worked in the Chi- 

 cago yards, but venture to say that cattle from the 

 northwest developing ranges have in the meantime 

 shown a material drift in age. When I came to 

 Texas twenty years ago there were many threes ; now, 

 under normal conditions, they are rare, except in the 

 extreme Panhandle, which has become more of a 

 developing than a breeding country. A well-posted 

 stockyards commission man once threw a bombshell 

 into my camp of theories by saying that improved 

 breeding was being done at the expense of weight, 

 citing a well-known brand with which he was espe- 

 cially familiar; but in going into the matter deeper 

 I was convinced that the marketing age had been 

 reduced, and that a year's keep cut some figure. I 

 do not mean to say that he opposed improved breed- 

 ing; his point was that the price must be greater to 

 offset the loss in weight. I followed the matter fur- 

 ther into the question of what percentage of increase 

 in choice cuts resulted, with satisfactory testimony 

 that it was material. My final conclusion was that 

 improved breeding results in materially earlier ma- 

 turity, and a saving of from one to two years' keep. 

 I have never been convinced that actual losses in 

 weight, year against year, have been against the im- 

 proved animal. 



An illustration of much interest came under my 



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