6 Miscellaneous Circular 74, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture 
head. Every animal raised on the farm is identified by a serially 
numbered ear tag, which is the key to its history and breeding. 
Necessarily the records of breeding operations, market returns, and 
other data relating to the work are detailed and very voluminous. 
At first it was not deemed practicable to maintain feeding records 
also, but with increasing interest in this subject the keeping of such 
data began in 1925. Feeding records on steer calves handled under 
different methods are now being kept in accordance with arrange- 
ments by the United States Department of Agriculture and the 
University of Missouri. 
Sni-a-Bar Farms have not only sold many carloads of market 
cattle but have successfully exhibited fat stock, including purebred 
animals, at various shows and exhibitions. Through the courtesy 
of the trustees of the estate, the records of breeding operations and 
marketing results described in this publication were made available 
to the United States Department of Agriculture for study, analysis, 
and publication. They cover approximately 10 years of systematic 
breeding and so fully justify the expectations of the far-sighted 
founder of the enterprise that it seems desirable to give stock owners 
the benefit of progress made thus far. The results include three 
complete generations of cattle and part of the fourth and show the 
practical benefits of grading up a herd of common cows with pure- 
bred sires within a period of 10 years. | 
DESCRIPTION OF HERD SIRES 
Table 1 is a list and brief description of the bulls used in con- 
ducting the work. Some of the bulls were purchased, others were 
bred on the farm. All are registered purebreds of the Shorthorn 
breed. The system of breeding has consisted chiefly in mating to 
perpetuate good qualities and overcome defects. 
MARKETING RESULTS 
Table 2 is a summary of the marketing results, showing the various 
ages and classes of stock sold and prices received. All steer calves 
have been sold fat in carload lots. For convenience in making com- 
parisons the table includes also the top market price and the average 
price for bulk of shipments on the day of sale. 
To facilitate comparisons of the crosses, animals of similar age and 
weight are grouped together. However, the fluctuations in market 
prices during the years in which the cattle were marketed naturally 
interfere with true comparisons. In order to place the different lots 
of animals on a strictly comparative basis that eliminates all factors 
other than their quality, the table includes index numbers in the 
next to the last column. An index number is a common statistical 
means for making true comparisons possible. In this case the num- 
bers rate the different lots, using 100.as representing the average 
price for bulk of sales. The index numbers for the various groups 
consequently show definitely how each lot of steers compared with 
the average marketing for that day and all other days, 
