Vol. LVII. No. 2541. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 8, 1898. 
saw. I don’t see why there should be any difference 
in price. tiiomas j. anderson. 
Allendale, Kan. 
In America we have not yet reached that point in 
beef production where the heifer will command the 
same price on the market as the steer of equal quality ; 
hut the difference is rapidly growing smaller as the 
tendency towards baby beef grows greater. In the 
older or mature animal, the steer is decidedly the best 
from both the feeder’s and butcher’s standpoint. But 
with the quick-growing, early-maturing type of beef 
animals, such as are becoming so popular in the Middle 
West, the baby heifer beef animal is quite the equal 
of her brother steer, from either the producer’s or con¬ 
sumer’s standpoint, the middleman, the butcher, being 
the only factor in the way of an equal price for both. 
Having always bought cows and heifers at a much 
lower price than steers, and usually made a greater 
profit on them, also with the uncertainty as to preg¬ 
nancy and consequent greater shrinkage and de¬ 
teriorated quality of the meat, he is very loath to pay 
. f*q v . 
A THHEE-YEAR-OLD SnORT-HORN HEIFER. Fig. 312 
ference in price, paying most for steers; this is for first- 
class heifers. Heifers do not attain the same weight 
as steers of the same age, but will be in better condi¬ 
tion for the block for the amount of feed consumed. 
Olive Green, 0. l. m. brownrigg. 
Heifers are considered by feeders as being somewhat 
inferior to steers. They do not make the same per 
cent of gain, and generally do not finish so nicely. 
O wing to scarcity of feeders, there has not been much 
difference in price for the last few years, not to ex¬ 
ceed 50 cents per 100 pounds, but probably that is 
about the difference made. iba cottingham. 
Eden, III. _ 
WHAT OTHERS ARE SATING. 
NOTES FROM OHIO. 
Grinding Feed at Home.— For a great many 
years, we did the grain grinding at home, and I was 
satisfied that it paid. When the silo came, and the 
corn went into it, ears and all, and the protein was 
purchased in bran, and oil 
meal and gluten feeds, 
there was no further work 
for the old mill to do, and 
now rust is eating its heart 
out. It was three miles to 
the mill and 1 found when 
the grinders were in any 
sort of sharpness, that a 
walk of six miles for the 
horses on the sweep of the 
mill, ground 30 bushel 
baskets—a little over a half 
ton—the same distance 
they must go if the public 
mill was visited. A little 
over two hours was con¬ 
sumed in the operation, 
and the man who could go 
to mill with 30 bushels of 
corn and get back in six 
hours, was a rarity. The 
mill would not grind pos¬ 
sibly quite as fine as the 
old hard heads at the pub- 
lie mill, but I could not see 
but the results in feeding 
were as good in making 
milk. For several years, 
the mill was used by three 
partners, each having his 
• own grinding days. Some 
Winters fully 2,000 bushels 
of grain were ground. As the original cost of the 
mill was only 845, and not over $20 worth of grinding 
rings were bought in all the time, it must have been 
that the old mill paid pretty fair profits. If I were 
again to feed cribbed corn, the old mill would be 
resurrected and put to doing duty in preference to de¬ 
pending upon the public mill and its delays. 
SHORT-HORN CATTLE. 
THEIR VAGUE TO THE AVERAGE FARMER. 
Beef Better Than Dairying. 
In the last few years, the demand for dairy cattle 
has been so large that our good beef breeds have been 
seriously neglected, and to-day, in this part of Ohio, 
we find that the production of beef brings the average 
farmer a much larger profit on his money and time 
expended than does dairying. There are a favored 
few that will always be able to make money out of a 
well-kept dairy, but where a farmer is not situated 
near a good creamery, or has no good market for his 
butter, I would advise him by all means (if he expects 
to raise cattle at all) to raise them for beef. 
Of all the beef breeds, I consider the good old Short¬ 
horns in the lead. They are very hardy, make excel¬ 
lent beef, and a great many of them have excellent 
milking qualities, which make them doubly valuable. 
But in the last few years breeders have been breeding 
them more for beef, and the result is that they are not 
as good milkers as they 
were a few years ago. 
It matters not whether 
we are running a dairy or 
raising beef cattle, we must 
have system about our 
work if we expect to suc¬ 
ceed. We must, also, study 
our market and cater to its 
wants. We find that we 
can make the most out of 
baby beef; it is what our 
market demands. We aim 
to have our calves come in 
February and March; by so 
doing, the cows do not re¬ 
quire such heavy feeding 
during the Winter. After 
they drop their calves, we 
feed all the good nutritious 
food they will eat until 
grass comes. When they 
go on grass, the calves are 
at such an age that they 
will stand pushing. As 
soon as they will eat, we 
begin feeding them bran, 
shelled corn, oats, etc., and 
by the time they are five or 
six months old, they are 
weaned and given all the 
grass, corn and bran they 
will eat. By pushing them 
from start to finish, they will weigh 1,000 pounds at 
one year of age, and the butchers here are anxious for 
them at 4% cents per pound. I consider that as good 
as, if not better than, running a dairy, and much 
easier. At Fig. 312 is shown a picture of a good three- 
year-old Short-horn heifer. m. c. tiiomas. 
Ohio. 
HEIFER vs. STEER BEEF. 
WHY SHOULD HEIFERS BRING LESS ? 
What do feeders think of good heifers as compared with steers 
for beef fattening ? Do they consider the heifers much inferior 
to the steers, and how much less would they, probably, be worth? 
We would like to know just how heifers of the beef breeds com¬ 
pare with steers. 
Heifers on the market run about one cent per pound 
cheaper than steers, and the butchers claim that they 
will not dress out as much meat as a steer, but I think 
that a nice, straight heifer makes as nice meat as a 
steer. I always thought that the butchers made too 
much difference between them. I have seen some 
spayed heifers in Kansas City sell right up with steers, 
and they looked as fine finished as any steers I ever 
the same price for the one as for the other. But com¬ 
petition and true merit are forcing him nearer and 
nearer to that point. 
It has been my experience, and it is my belief, that 
up to the age of 18 to 24 months the heifer is the 
more profitable feeder. The well-bred beef heifer is a 
hard thing to find on the markets, unless it be in the 
finished form, so that, in buying feeders on the market, 
while one can sometimes find a desirable bunch of well- 
bred steers, it is almost useless to look for an equally 
good bunch of heifers at the present time. This was not 
the case a few years ago, when all the West was trying 
to unload beef stock and go into the horse business. 
Shinrock, O. j. p. hine. 
At the present time well-bred heifers are selling as 
well as steers when they show good quality. They 
sell to feeders at about the same price. Heifers have 
topped the market, both at Kansas City and Chicago 
this season, outselling steers. w. J. turpin. 
Carrollton, Mo. 
Heifers will fatten better than steers, with the same 
care. Shippers make about 25 cents per 100 pounds dif¬ 
A Cover Crop. —Next week, I shall sow Canada 
peas and oats on all of our corn stubble, and let them 
grow for both mulch and protection. As the peas are 
legumes, they are expected to leave by their decay 
some protein in the soil for future crops. This year, 
we have a lot of corn growing on such Winter-covered 
land, and the growth of that corn is wonderful, more 
so from the fact that no manure or fertilizer of any 
kind was used on this lot. We are trying on a small 
scale another idea in catch crops. About June 1, after 
the crop was off, we sowed an acre to peas and oats, 
and as soon as the peas were ripe, they were turned 
under, oats and all. The lot is now a sight to behold 
with its second crop of peas in bloom. We shall let 
this crop fall down and mulch the land, and make 
