The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1878-10-16
Cattle versus Horses.

Il seems hardly to be believed, but
We can see on the streets of most any
of cur c0untry towns or public day,
good plug-w0rk horses, sound aad
not over age. selling for less than
VI hat good thoroughbred steers will
bring. The farm horse seems never
to be quoted higher than $50 to $50,
while the bullock sells readily at so
to $50 When we take into consider
atiea the extra cost Of the horse, it is
TO be wondered that so many farmers
will pursue the policy Of raising year
after year very common colt, aud
never saying once, Heres yolr
mule, /" or "here's your beefn There
is an outlay Of 81 to SO Tor the breed
ing Of the mare % begin With, and
then more care is to be taken Of
colt, and usually more generous feed
is given il, even If Il dces not con
sumo as much. Now il this FIRST out
lay were invested in a good grade
steer-eslf, aud liberal feeding iadulged
in until be iE three years OF age. the
owner can pocket more Gosh for him
than be will get for the colt at f0nI
or FIVE. There is another feature Of
this subject when stripped Of its mar
row limits; there is not carload Of
shipping cattle in the United States
that can not be shipped. after being
slaughtered, to Great Britain al re.
muneratiVe figures, while probably
one alf Of the h0rses would scarcely
sell for enough TO pay freight to a
sea-board city Then the farmers
will surely be more prosperous if
they turD their attention to some
thing for which there is q demand,
and drop or that which seems over
done.
Some very Gne coach horses bear
transportation beyond the sea, and
there Is some demand for such in the
Eastern cities, but il is limited and
confined to stock into the value Of
which enter largely both blood and
training, and more cf the latter than
the ordinary farmer can give We
do not intend to attemp. 70 estimate
a profit in raising common scrub cat
tie, lest il bring US to balance over
the left" There is 10 profit in rlis-
ing, feeding or butchering a cat
hamed, coarse-shonldered, tough-hide
scrub. If beef be the object, the AMI
nal should be one Just as near akin
to short-horn parents on both sides
as can be procured Then be should
never be allowed 70 get hungry for O
day. Keep him eating and you keep
him growing. At three years Of age
you may reasonably expect 20 pro
duce fne bullock. ft for the export
market, weighing 1900 or 1000
pounds, and for which the price is ,
to ) cents per pound, live weight
Contrast this splendid animal with
the little, pincbed-uP, thick-headed
seullion that has 10 breeding, 10
feeding, no care He is left 20 run
too long, and bis head and horns are
thick and s;aggy He has been half
starved during the winter, losing the
flesh put on by the scsnt grazing of
summer, and be comes to tie stock
yard a brute Of which, after the tau
ner, the soap grease man and the
glue maker get their share, there is
little left for the meat-stsll, and that
Of kind better suited to the glue fac
tory thsn the table. OF cOurse the
price barely pays transportation and
other expenses. Bluegrass is a great
help, bat it is not necessary to have
IL to make q good bullock. This can
be done wherever corn and hay viii
grow, and that is all over our West
ern and much Of the Southern eOuG-
try. Let farmers, then, who com
plain of the low price Of tobacco and
the want Of a market for hsrses, turn
their attention 70 feeding e iewratile
of the right kind This branch Ct
business is not likely to be o7erdOce
10 the De future, AID when il does
the demand will perhaps have caught
up with the supply Of hcrses. hogs,
and other stock that will not bear ex-
port. a good calf properly stalled
and fed Is the "ginilemal that pays
the rint,1 as the Irish say.