The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-05-18

Beef.Making By Common Farmers.
There is q great interest in the ac-
counts of the methods of such cattle
kings as Mr.. Gillet-men who rear and
feed hundreds of fine cattle, sometimes
shipping train-loads of first-class beeves.
There is interest and value in seeing
and carefully studying the fine cattle
shown at our fat-stock shows; but we
must bear in mind that the great mass
of the cattle sold for beef are not pro-
duced by the Gillets or Moningers, nor
are they the equal in weight or quality
of the fat-stock show winners. Perhaps
it is fortunate that the prices paid for
'.fair to good steers" should so nearly
approach those secured for the very
finest. 1t is doubtful if the very large
and excessively fat cattle are as desira-
BILE for the consumer as those which
have simply been well fattened. Wheth-
er or not this be true, the fact remains
that thousands on thousands of farmers
do not, and can not, grow cattle on
great scale, nor attempt to produce re-
markably large, fine or early-matured
animals. Is there profit for suchP II
o medium class of cattle can be pro-
duced at small cost there may be posi-
bly,, as much profit, in proportion to out
lay and risk, as comes from higher
feeding and greater outlay. Time is
an element of much Importance. II
does not pay, where land is at fair
price, to keep steers until they are four
years old to have them weigh 1,00C
pounds. Especially is it important to
reduce the winter expenditure for grain.
Wisely managed, pasturage is cheap
feeding. Winter feeding of grain need:
to be carefully done to give much
profit.
For the large class of farmers who
must combine dairying on small scale
with their meat production, who feel
that they cannot afford to keep cow
year for no other purpose than to rear
a calf, there are strong arguments in
favor of having the calves dropped in
the fall or winter. They can be well
reared on skim milk, oil meal, on
ground oats, etc., and come out in the
spring strong and vigorous for the
pastures, if not plump and fat. They
will come to the next winter much bet
ter fitted for it than are spring or early
summer calves, and then here is greater
profit in winter butter-making.
Carefully reared on skinned milk,
and after a summer on good pasture,
the steer calves should weigh at least
600 pounds when year old. Economy
of expenditure being prominently in
mind, we will suppose the young steers
are kept comfortably during the winter,
but with little grain, coming out in
spring in good shape for another sum-
mer on grass. When two years old
they should weigh say 900 pounds.
Again let them be kept as cheaply as
may be, SO that they gain a little in
weight, or at least so that the loss of
''the. sap" as they come off grass, is
balanced by actual growth in winter.
About March 1, or by the middle of that
month, let them be put on full feed,
hogs following. With this feeding con-
tinued up to June 1, or to the middle
of the month, if market continues good,
the steers ought to be fairly fat and
weigh, say l, 100 pounds to 1, 200 pounds;
be smooth, ''handy" cattle; ready for
what has of recent years been among
the best markets of the year, bring,
probably, within one cent per pound of
the highest price. From fifty to sixty
bushels of corn will have been eaten
during the life of the steer. The butter
made ought to, at least, give pay for
the food of the calf up to the time it is
turned on pasture. All other expenses
are light. Making full allowance for
fluctuations in markets and in weights,
such an average steer, ought to be
worth, in Chicago, from sixty to sew
enty-five dollars. We do not say this
is the most profitable mode of handling
cattle by the class of farmers we have
in mind, but it does seem clear that a
fair profit would result therefrom.
In case spring calves are preferred
they might be wintered cheaply the
first two winters and fattened in the
fall-say from August or September.
Feeding ninety to one hundred days,
reaching like weights with those given
above, while one winters keep is saved;
the cattle are fattened at convenient
time, but often do not find SO good
market as those sold in late spring or
very early summer.
1t will be borne in mind we are not
outlining system for those who are
breeding the very best of cattle and who
propose to secure the largest return in
the shortest time, the general farmer
has not yet reached the stage when pro-
ducing :" baby-beef' will be advisable
for him, and the time seems to have gone
by when he finds much profit in contin-
ued feeding of three or four-year-old
ctaorr, D,ooJo~fo Hn-of{,