The Beef Calf. 



29 



tion to your calf. Be kind, attentive, and faithful and you will be 

 more liberally rewarded. 



The show ring is the best school you have ever attended, provided 

 you take decisions against you as well as for you cheerfully and try 

 to find the reasons for them. There are usually good reasons, and they 

 will help you greatly to be more successful at the next show or sale. 



MARKETING OR BREEDING— WHICH? 



After a good calf has been properly grown and developed, the 

 question "What shall I do with it?" may arise. In most cases the 

 young owners would no doubt prefer to keep the calf. This should 



Fig. 22. — A bred heifer, properly grown, and in good condition to care for her calf. 



be done, however, only after very careful consideration. It is as- 

 sumed that the calf has had a good home, that it has been welcome at 

 all times by other members of the family, and was brought up on a 

 farm where feeds, pasture, and equipment for caring for it properly 

 were always available. Would these be as cheerfully provided for 

 the mature animal as for the calf ? Above all, do you have the desire 

 to become a breeder of purebred beef cattle? Do you get real pleas- 

 ure and delight in working with them and serving them? If you 

 do, and if the home farm is well suited to the business, you are 

 probably justified in keeping the calf for breeding purposes. 



If the calf is a heifer, she of course has to be fed and cared for so 

 as to grow into a useful cow — one good enough to be the foundation 



