Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-02-09

One of the most interesting qucs-
tons to the farmer, Just now, is how
he may make the most out of his
stock. The common native stock of
the country is not sufficiently profit
able. 1t produces too little beef, but
ter, wool. mutton, pork, and lard, and
it takes too long to produce what it
it does, to be profitable in this rapid
aly moving age. Farmers must float
with the stream Of improvement, OF
they will find themselves cast high
and dry upon the banks. Feed is the
farmers raw material and his stock
the machinery from which he manu-
features his wares. No matter how
skillfully he feeds, if his machines are
imperfect or slow in action, his wares
must necessarily cost too much. To
improve his machinery, that is, the
stock which he feeds, is as needful as
to study how to feed. All the inves-
LEGATIONS and experiments he, and
others for him, can make go for
nothing, if the animals he feeds can
not digest and assimilate the food in
sufficient quantity to turn it into SALE
able material fast enough. In order
that this may be done more rapidly.
breeders have, for years, been i'm
proving their stock. Cattle, sheep,
and pigs of improved breeds come to
maturity and reach double their
weight at half the age of the unim-
proved breeds. Unfortunately VIC
are bewildered when we hear and
read of the marvellous prices at which
some Of these animals are sold. Clear
ly they are out Of the farmers reach.
iSut II would DC wrong TO suppose
that he is therefore debarred from i'm
proving his stock by the use Of i'm
proved animals. The past month
over 1000 head of Short-horn cattle
have been sold at various public sales.
Many of these have been of the fancy
sort, valued at very high prices, for
their pedigrces. No complaint can be
made ifa wealthy man chooses to
give $4,000 for ono of these animals.
any more than ii he gave the same
amount for a diamond. lie Injuries
no one, and does, at least some good
with his surplus money. But, FORUM
ately, he has no monopoly of the real
ly good cattle. A good judge of
stock would be equally well, or better
satisfied with an animal that at the
same sale brings bnt 500 or $500,
simply because its family is not so
fashionable. or it has not $50 sweet a
head" Hundreds of valuable bulls
are sold every year at prices that any
prosperous farmer can afford to give,
and which will bring him a hand
some profit. The prize milk COW ut
the New York State Fair, this year,
was grade Short-horn, sired by q
bull that was not valued at more
than $50; if SO much. The latest
steer was of the same kind. There
We're two-year-old sheep weighing
$50 fbs., and yearling pigs that
weighed over 900 MS, and the sires
of these animals conld have been pur-
chased for $50 each. To use such an
finals as these would in short time
double the value of our farm stock.
Let no one then hc deferred from in
yestigating this matter Of improved
stock, because some rich men choose
to make fancy ofa certain class Of it,
and give what some may think ridic-
ulous prices for it. We gave IS, "a
ridiculous price it was thoughD, for
our first pound of early rose potatoes,
and the second year we gave away
more than rs worth to friends, and
sold 1926 worth at 81 bushel from
the produce of that pound. Improv-
ed stock ought to be a better thing to
have than an improved potato, and
it's, provided II Is nscd with judy
ment and well cared for.- Ameyfcan
Agrtcultit77st. 4Fa