Grading up Beef Cattle at Sni-a-Bar Farms 3 
METHODS OF MANAGEMENT 
The management and breeding of the Sni-a-Bar herd have pro- 
ceeded in accordance with the terms of the will and in harmony with 
the original plans of the founder of the demonstration. The stock 
is periodically tested for tuberculosis, thus keeping the breeding 
work on a substantial foundation with respect to health. No serious 
disease of any kind has interfered with the conduct of the work. 
The breeding stock is fed in much the same manner as in 1913, 
running on pasture during the summer and wintering on hay in open 
sheds, or in timber. The cows receive no grain. The heifers are 
bred so that they will calve at about 30 months of age. If calving 
occurs in the winter, the heifers receive some grain for a short period. 
Fic. 2.—Wimple’s Villager 548136, a sire used from 1915 to 1922, as he appeared 
in average breeding condition 
The calves have been allowed to run with their dams until weaned, 
after which they receive a small quantity of grain once a day for 
about three weeks. Pastures are chiefly bluegrass and white clover, 
though some fields contain meadow fescue and alsike. ‘The first 
lots of steers were grazed until they were 15 to 18 months old, after 
which they were full fed for four to six months and then marketed. 
For some five years thereafter the steers were fed from weaning 
time for from 7 to 10 months and marketed at the age of about 14% 
years. Lately the practice has been to begin feeding the calves in 
a creep, while still nursing, and they are finally marketed at about 
800 to 1,100 pounds in weight when 12 to 15 months of age. These 
changes in method have been due largely to market conditions, espe- 
cially the preference for beeves finished at an earlier age than when 
the demonstration began. 
