Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1882-06-10
When to Market Cattle.
Iowa Homestead.

When to Market Cattle.
Iowa Homestead.
1t has been rightly claimed that a
well-bred, mature animal, will general
ly make better beef than an immature
one, the flesh of the former being of
rich, red color and full of Juice, while
in the latter it is pale, and lacks the
juciness and flavor so much to be de-
sired in a steak or roast. In scrub,
however, naturally hard-heshed and
coarse, the sooner killed the better for
all concerned. But the quality of the
flesh is one that more nearly concerns
the customer than the feeder, to whom
the question of profit is of vastly more
Importance than the excellence of the
meat The poor encouragement which
the producer of good beef receives of
buyers in our western markets is not
an incentive to pay much attention to
quality. Many breeders of blooded
stock are apparently Indifferent on this
point, and the effect must be to injure
the high quality of some of our most
popular breeds. AS the feeder looks
first to profit, the question as to the
best time for sending to market natur-
ally arises. A well bred steer can by
judiciOus handling be made to weigh
from 1900 to 1900 pounds at the
tender age of thirty months. With
breed that natures easily, the flesh at
this age, while it may not be quite
equal to the flesh of the same animal
f kept year later, yet it will be found
of excellent quality. The average
monthly gain IN weight will at this
time be greater than it is possible to
make afterward, and the amount of
food consumed by young animal is
also less in proportion to the amount
of gain than in an older animal. 1t is,
therefore, the best plan to turn off
steers of good blood that have been
properly fed and grazed, during the fall
or early winter after they are two years
old. Unless the market is on rise it
will hardly pay to feed through the
winter for the spring market, but if
this is done it will be found profitable
to keep them on grass through the
summer, and market in October or
November. In saying thirty months
it must be remembered that we are
stating what in our judgment should
be the rule for the farmer who has
raised his own well-bred cattle, and
has kept them constantly thriving on
good food and pasture. If a lot of scrub
steers are to be handled for only six
or eight months it may be found more
profitable to buy at three years, as they
are but little further advanced than
good grade short-hOrns year younger.
They will weigh no more then, and by
the next fall the grades will beat them
from one to three hundred pounds. A
fair profit is sometimes made in hand
ling common cattle, but it is only when
they are purchased low, and the market
is brisk at selling time. AS "A general
thing there is no money in feeding
them, and to dead certainty they are
improbable to breed. The great
stretches of prairie, which few years
ago might be used for pasture, is
rapidly disappearing, and on our high
priced land we must keep less stock,
feed more intelligently, and handle
only such breeds, as will, on account of
their superior milk and beef-producing
qualities and their early maturity, make
the best returns.