The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-06-06
FARM TOPICS.
Faulty Western Systems of Feeding.

Faulty Western Systems of Feeding.
MIR. Maedonald's book, lately pub
lished in Scotland, on his American
tour last season (says the Country Gen
ttemGn), criticises our % common" cat
tie even more roughly than we think
they deserve, and rates our best Ameri-
can beef as by no means superior ar
ticle. Mr.. NJ. admits, it will be seen,
that on this subject there is difference
OF opinion on his own side of the At
lantic. We make the following extract,
not only to show the grounds on which
his criticism rests, but also because we
should be glad if it ELECTS discussion
among our readers on the merits of his
positions:
"The best quality of beef is raised
mostly in the States of Illinois, Ken
lucky, Ohio, and Indiana, each of the
neighboring States contributing a small
quantity. Illinois undoubtedly takes
the lead in regard to the gross quantity
of flst-class beef it produces; but it
contains at the same time so many CON-
mon cattle, that, with respect to the
percentage of good beef to inferior,
Kentucky stands fully as high. Ohio and
Indiana are pretty nearly on level.
High grades-second, third, and fourth
crosses between common cows and i'm
proved bulls, mostly Short-horns-are
the producers of the prime beef of
America, that which has been designat-
ed 'first-class;' and between these high
grades and the common cattle of the
country there is large number of cat
tie that have a sprinkling of improved
blood in their veins, and that receive
better attention than is general in Amer
lea, and that yield fair quality of beef,
slightly inferior to the beef of high
grades (about equal to third-rate British
beef; but still not wholly unsuited for
export to Britain; while small pro-
portion of the common cattle, the very
finest of the common steers, yield beef
that might pass in an emergency.
Regarding the quality of the best
class of American beef there is con-
siderable difference of opinion. Broth
er Jonathan tells US that it can't be |
beat anywhere in the world; and even
on the Eastern side of the Atlantic there |
are few who maintain that it is quite |
equal to the finest quality of beef the
British Isles have ever produced. Not |
withstanding all that has been said to /
the contrary, my firm opinion is that |
the best quality of American beef has |
no comparison whatever with the best /
quality of British beef. 1t must be |
placed on a level with second-class Brit |
ish beef, but higher position it can not |
claim. And my reasons for so thinking |
are easily explained. To begin with,
the class of cattle which produce the /
best quality of American beef are decid-
edly inferior in almost every point to
the best beef cattle of Britain. Their
immediate ancestors on the female side |
were rough, coarse, big boned, muscu-
lar cattle, far from well suited for the
production of beef; and though the in
huence of the improved sires has filed
away these coarse points considerably
and engrafted many new qualities, still
they display remnants of the character
istics of the original breed (Or rather
breeds) which seriously reduce the
quality of their beef. They are still too
big-bOned, too narrow along the top,
too flat on the rib, have too much mus
Gle, and are unsatisfactory both in touch
and quality To be sure, every success
sive cross lessons the faults; but before
they can all be hidden several genera
tons must be built on the top of that
now living. Surprising, however, that
the best class of beef cattle in
America and Britain were equal
ly good in breeding and
general characteristics, the manner in
which cattle -feeding is carried on in
America would of itself leave that coun-
Try far behind Britain in reg I'd to the
quality of its best class of beef. AS pre-
viously stated, the finest quality, as well
as the maximum quantity, of beef can
be produced only by the animal being
fed unvaryingly from its birth EDWARDS;
and while this principle is not observed
n Britain nearly so generally as it ought
to be, it is barely recognized in America
at ALL In Britain cattle-feeding has be-
come science; in America it is a work
that may be executed in the most con-
venient haphazard manner. The tenn
perature and constitution of the animal
receive no attention from the American
farmer, neither does he take any heed
whether or not his animals are supplied
with food containing in proper proper
lions the commodities which form, flesh,
fat, bone, and muscle. When he wishes
to fatten his cattle, he scatters in the
field among them an abundance of In
dian corn and 4 seasoning of salt, and
leaves the rest Of the fattening process
to the animals themselves and to nature.
1t is the misfortune of the American
farmer that nature has done so much
for him; but kind though it be, it does
not satisfactorily accomplish all that is
left to it in the feeding of cattle. 1t
does not supply in the atmosphere, nor
in any other shape, the ingredients which
are lacking in Indian corn for the eff
cient feeding of cattle, neither does it
always provide the failing with that
shelter which is desired to assist the
daily fare in keeping up the animal heat.
"To illustrate what is meant, brief
reference may be made to the mode of
feeding pursued by Mr.. John B. Gillet,
Elkhart, Macon County, Illinois, whose
immense herd of 2 300 head has already
been noticed at some length, and who
has for upwards of 80 years displayed
as much care and intelligence in the
management of his herd as any other
man on the American continent. For
several years back he has been receiving
higher prices for his fat steers than most
of his neighbors and fellow-American
farmers, and it was from his herd that |
Mr.. Eastman, of New York, obtained |
those excellent samples of beef that cleo
trifed this country on their arrival near
ly two years ago; so that the illustration
selected is very favorable to the general
system of cattle-feeding, even among the
most intelligent and most advanced of
American farmers. Mr.. Gillet rears be-
tween 400 and 500 calves every year
from Short-horn bulls and high grade |
cows, each calf being allowed to follow
its dam; and thus, when weaned, or
turned into the 'stirkies' sta
Gas broad Scot would say), |
the calf is usually as high in
condition as it is desirable that a calf
should be. But after that, instead of an
ap1oar0r ,,,odo tO vofair1 tho calf /