390 Feeds and Feeding. 



In those days prices for grain, interest rates, and especially 

 prices of fat cattle, were higher than at present, and the student 

 in using the figures must make allowance for the changes wrought 

 by time: the lesson taught still stands. 



597. Modern market demands. — Some readers wiU recall the 

 period when it was not considered advisable to fatten a steer until 

 he was five years old; a much larger number will recollect the 

 early exhibits at the American Pat-Stock Show, Chicago, where 

 prizes were given for "big steers" often five or more years old 

 and weighing up to two tons. The long-legged, raw-boned creat- 

 ures that competed for premiums in those days are a thing of the 

 past, though there is still room for improvement. The butcher 

 now calls for "handy " steers, ranging from 1,200 to 1,500 pounds 

 in weight. These are well described in the following, taken from 

 Bell's Messenger: 1 "The winner now has to be short-legged, 

 broad and deep, full in the flank, well sprung ribs, and good 

 twist. His bottom lines should be as straight as his top lines, 

 and as wide, and he should have no thick, patchy fat anywhere. 

 Experience has shown that thick-bodied, short-legged steers, 

 with full flanks, pay the feeder best, and give best profit to the 

 butcher. Big ones are no longer needed. Small sizes are best, 

 with plenty of quality, and with youth on their side the meat is 

 juicy and tender. Age is counted in months now, instead of years, 

 and the change is for the better." 



To produce steers which meet these requirements a high degree 

 of skill and judgment must be exercised in breeding and feeding. 

 From the tables we are taught the important lesson that less feed 

 is required to bring animals to the required standard because of 

 the smaller size of the individuals when fattened. High skill in 

 breeding and feeding th^^s oppose the plainer breeding and slower 

 feeding of former times. 



598. Early maturity. — What can be accomplished in the way of 

 early maturity is illustrat«d by results obtained by Mr. "W. A. 

 Harris, of Linwood, Kansas. ^ Mr. Harris fed pure-bred and 

 grade Short-horn calves, coming in December, January and Peb- 



* Quoted in Live Stock Rept., Chicago, July 19, 1895. 

 » Breeder's Gazette, Chicago, 1800, p. 437. 



