CHAPTER XIII 

 BREEDING BEEF CATTLE 



The breeding of cattle for the production of beef should re- 

 ceive more attention from the general farmer than is being ac- 

 corded it at the present time. During the past decade the breed- 

 ing of beef cattle on the common farms has been on the decline, 

 especially in the north and central part of the country. For- 

 merly, in traveling over this section, it was not an uncommon 

 sight to see large herds of well-bred beef cattle grazing, often 

 on permanent pasture, while at present such a herd is so- un- 

 common as to elicit much comment. As has been pointed 

 out in the discussion on purchasing feeding cattle, the reasons 

 for this decline in beef breeding are many, the chief one being 

 that there is more money to be made in other branches of 

 farming. Along with this decline in breeding there has been 

 an increase in consumption, until the problem of supplying the 

 demand for beef has taken on a serious aspect. The remedy 

 for this is only to breed more and better beef-producing animals. 

 No doubt other branches of farming are more profitable for 

 that section of the country Ijdng west of the Sciota, north of the 

 Ohio, and east of the Missouri rivers, yet such may not be true 

 of the immediate surrounding territory. In this outlying ter- 

 ritory there is land not well suited to growing grain that with 

 proper management can be turned to the profitable production 

 of beef cattle (pages 276, 290). 



The chief defect of the common cattle is their lack of quality 

 and uniformity. This is due both to the lack of good blood and 

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