66 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



be considered only steers of two years old or older; fourth what is known 

 as "calf-feeding-" or the production of "baby beef." 



In the production of any farm crop, and also in the production of beef 

 on the stock farm, the labor question is one -of the main factors to be con- 

 sidered, and for that reason we must be especially careful in our work 

 with cattle to see that we expend the least amount of labor on them that is 

 practical to get the best results. For this reason we must depend as much 

 as possible on pasture. For summer pasture there is nothing better than 

 our good native grass, and every farmer should have a large part of his 

 land in native grass, running his cows on this pasture during the summer 

 and depending on some other substance for his winter feed. By doing this 

 he is able to utilize his pasture to its fullest extent and will therefore get 

 the greatest returns from it. For winter maintenance, there is nothing 

 better than wheat pasture. Where a man will put his wheat in early so 

 that it will make a good growth before winter he can get a large amount 

 of pasturage from it, thus furnishing a very cheap winter feed and by 

 removing his cattle early in the spring he may get just as good a crop of 

 wheat as the man who did not pasture his wheat at all. Even if he gets 

 no wheat he will be repaid for his labor and expense in putting in the 

 wheat from the pasturage he gets from it. 



But a man should not depend on his pasture and wheat alone, for in 

 dry years both would be "short," and he would either have to sell part of 

 his cattle or buy high-priced feed. 



The greatest substitute for pasturage is silage, and no stock farmer 

 should be without a silo, for with silage he can substitute his short pasture 

 in the summer and his wheat in the winter, either when his wheat is short 

 or during that period between when he should remove the cattle from the 

 wheat in the spring and the time, when the native grass is ready to be 

 turned on. 



Three years ago there were not more than 12 or 15 silos in the whole 

 Southwest, while at the present time there are several hundred and 

 more were put up this summer than in any previous year. 



In this connection one should never consider lightly any rough- 

 ness he may have around the place, such as wheat straw, kafir butts, etc.; 

 especially when cattle are on wheat pasture or silage in the winter, for 

 they seem to crave a small amount of dry roughness and it will help won- 

 derfully. It might be well to state that in wintering stock cows the use 

 of a small amount of cottonseed meal is one of the best investments h 

 man can make, for it furnishes the bone and muscle building elements and 

 insures a strong cow and a well developed, vigorous calf in the spring. 



The problem of maintaining the stocker or growing steer is very simi- 

 lar to that of keeping the stock cow. The steer should be kept on pasture 

 as much as possible, utilizing the native grass in the summer to its fullest 

 extent, and depending on wheat pasture and silage in the winter, with our 

 cheap roughness as a substitute. 



In our cooperative work in the Texas Panhandle, testing out the rela- 

 tive value of different methods of wintering steers the men are strongly 



