1877.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
173 
Beef Cattle—For Home Use and Export. 
Value of tile Export Trade to all Farmers— 
Best Cattle—Short-horns Cheap—Devons. 
The rapidly increasing exportation of beef to 
England will attract the attention of farmers to the 
profitable employment of 
rearing and feeding cattle 
for this, as well as the 
home market. In one 
week last month, 2,330 
head of beeves were ship¬ 
ped from New York, 
alone x and 550 more 
went from Philadelphia. 
In the possible event of 
satisfying the English de¬ 
mand, there are other 
European countries whose 
people are hungry for 
meat, and eager to pay 
their gold for a. supply. 
Our advantageous situa¬ 
tion, being in a direct and 
the nearest line across the 
ocean to these waiting 
markets, gives us the first 
chance of securing the 
business and confers upon 
us, to a great extent, a 
monopoly of it. We may 
therefore consider that 
the value of meat has 
come to the bottom, and 
that the present rates may 
remain steady, if they do 
not advance, for years to 
come. That they will advance seems even more 
probable than that they will retain their present 
level, and altogether the prospect for a steady 
and profitable business in this branch of agri¬ 
culture, is of the most encouraging character. 
The very intimate relation that exists between 
the production of meat and successful farming, is 
one of the settled facts of agricultural practice. 
The employment of rich and stimulating food not 
only hastens the maturity of the animals fed upon 
it, and returns a direct profit, but it produces an 
abundance of the richest manure, and in this gives a 
second profit. It must be 
remembered at the out¬ 
set, that the profitably fed 
animal must be supplied 
with purchased food, in 
addition to that which is 
grown upon the farm, and 
that the employment of 
the additional capital thus 
expended, leads to in¬ 
creased profits. This is 
“ high farming,” and this 
term, which has been held 
as a bug-bear by some, 
means simply and only 
this, viz., the use of the 
soil in such a way as shall 
enable it to take in as 
much as can possibly be 
made to give out again 
the largest possible profit. 
The soil, in the hands of a 
high-farmer, is a machine 
into which he pours cheap 
raw materials, and from 
which he takes out valu¬ 
able finished products. 
Here is the opportunity 
for the employment of 
skill and intelligence, by 
which man’s labor is 
made the most productive and profitable. The 
most important element of success, however, in 
stock feeding, is to have the right sort of animals 
to feed. These are the machines, as it were, by 
which the raw material is worked up, and every 
person knows how much better it is to have a per¬ 
fect machine to work with-, than a mere make-shift, 
There are animals that are able to eat and digest 
only enough to sustain life, while they slowly grow 
to maturity during six or eight years, and then they 
are of very inferior value for beef. On the other 
hand there are those which can be made, by only two 
year’s high feeding, to reach a greater weight, and 
make a more valuable product, than the former at 
six years of age. The feed consumed during the 
short life of the best cattle, is probably not half 
that eaten by the poor stock. The saving made 
then by feeding the best, amounts to 50 per cent of 
the hay, grain, and roots used, and three years or 
more of time and labor. This is the plain and sim¬ 
ple reason why the best breeds of cattle are held to 
be more valuable than the common stock, or the 
6o-caIled scrubs. Unfortunately, of late, much of a 
speculative character has been given to the business 
of rearing and selling of the best of our breeds of 
beef cattle, the Short-horns. This excitement, 
however, is past, probably never to return. It has 
burnt itself out, and is extinguished. The best of 
Short-horn bulls have been sold the past winter at 
such prices that should induce farmers to purchase 
freely. We do not mean the fanciest sorts of fancy 
animals, but those of really better intrinsic value 
than these, because they have been more healthful¬ 
ly bred and reared, and are of strong, vigorous con¬ 
stitution, which many of the fancy ones are not. 
Good Short-horns are now to be procured at less 
than their actual value. Why this is thus we need 
not here say ; we have heretofore pointed out why 
this result might be looked for, and it has come to 
pass. Eorty-five to a hundred or two hundred dol¬ 
lars for a bull, is cheap 
enough to satisfy the most 
exacting farmer as regards 
cheapness, and it is great¬ 
ly to be hoped that farm¬ 
ers will not miss the 
present opportunity of im¬ 
proving their stock, and 
beginning to raise a few 
of the best beef cattle, 
if only as an experiment. 
The Short-horn is un¬ 
doubtedly the most valu¬ 
able beef animal in ex¬ 
istence ; that is, when 
crossed on native stock, 
and for producing grades. 
The grade Short-horn is 
a better beef animal than 
the pure-bred, if good 
judgment is exercised in 
procuring an excellent 
bull, and good cows to 
mate with him. This is 
fortunate, because it. en¬ 
ables the farmer to enter 
this business of producing 
beeves with only a small 
expenditure of money. 
We have very frequent¬ 
ly described the Short¬ 
horn, and have at times given many illustrations of 
the best animals. We give herewith a portrait of 
an English bred animal, which recently appeared 
in the London “ Agricultural Gazette.” It belongs 
to the class known as the Booth stock, that is, it 
has descended from stock bred by that renowned 
family of breeders. The engraving is a representa¬ 
tion of a portrait, not a photograph, but it is 
singularly free from the exaggerations usual in 
artists’ pictures. It represents “ Royal Benedict,” 
owned by T. C. Booth, Esq., and a very good 
typical Short-horn, and an excellent beef animal. 
But, however excellent 
this breed of cattle may 
be, it cannot fill every 
place. There are locali¬ 
ties where some other 
breed would be more 
profitable. In the grand 
meadows of the Western 
States and the rich bot¬ 
toms of the great eastern 
rivers, the Short-horn will 
supplant every other 
breed, because it is there 
the most profitable. There 
are, however, hilly or up¬ 
land districts, where the 
pasture is not so luxuri¬ 
ant ; lighter, more active 
animals will be more 
profitable and prefera¬ 
ble here, and also where 
oxen are frequently used 
for a period as draft ani¬ 
mals, and are finally fed 
for the butcher. In these 
localities the Devon per¬ 
haps excels all others. 
This breed is the most 
ancient pure-bred race 
of domestic animals, and 
has held its place for 
hundreds of years. It is the best breed of all cattle 
for working oxen; it is strikingly handsome in 
form and color, and although it has not the heaviest 
carcass, the beef is of the best quality. As a beef 
animal it can never lose the first place in such lo¬ 
calities as above mentioned. Notwithstanding the 
severe competition which exists in England amongst 
* SHORT-HORN BULL, “ ROYAL BENEDICT,” BRED BY T. C. BOOTH, ESQ., OP WARLABY, ENGLAND. 
FAT DEVON OX, BRED BY MR. KIDNER, OF ENGLAND. 
