CHAPTER XXI 



FEEDING ANIMALS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF 

 MEAT 



The production of beef was at one time a source 

 of income to nearly all fanns. In earlier days the New 

 England farmer annually sent to the market a few fat 

 steers or oxen. The beef consumed in the United States 

 and that exported now comes very largely from the wide 

 grazing areas of the West, where the cost of feed and the 

 necessary amount of labor are at a minimum. The 

 reasons for this change are not hard to find. The food 

 cost of beef-making is relatively large as compared with 

 dairy products, and in the East the growth of home 

 markets for milk and cream has made it possible for 

 farmers to turn their high-cost feeding-stuff into prod- 

 ucts having a higher proportionate market price than 

 beef. Moreover, certain eastern lands have, with enlarg- 

 ing markets, been occupied to good advantage with fruit 

 and vegetables. The time has come, now that the wide 

 areas of the West are more densely peopled, when beef 

 production is receiving more attention in the eastern 

 states. Some eastern farmers appear now to find it profita- 

 ble. It is certain that it involves good judgment, skill, 

 and the art of feeding to the highest degree, especially if 

 fair returns are to be secured. The breeding or selection 

 of animals of the most profitable type that will supply 

 the market with a high-grade product, and stable feed- 

 ing, so as to produce rapid and continuous increase, 



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