The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1883-06-08
miscellaneous.
Beef:Making by Common Farmers.

There Is great interest In the accounts
of the methods of such cattle kings as Mr.
Gilet-men who rear and feed hundreds OF
fine cattle, sometimes shipping train-loads
of first class beeYes. 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 produced by
the Gillets or Moningers, nor are they equal
in weight or quality of the fut-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 It is douttfu if the very large and
excessively fat cattle are rs desirsble for the
consumer rs those which have simply been
well fattened Whether 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 ami
mails Is there profit for such? If a medium
| class of cattle can be produced at small cost
there may be possibly, ms much profit in
proportion to outlay and risk, as comes from
higher feeding and greater outlay. Time is
an element of much importance. 1t does not
pay where land is at n fair price, to keep
steers until they are four years old to have
them weigh 1000 pounds. Especially it is
L
for grain. Wisely managed, pasturage is
cheap feeding. Winter feeding of grain
needs to be carefully done to give much
profit.
For the large class of farmers who must
combine dairying on Il small scale with Their
meat production, who feel that they cannot
afford to keep n cow year for no other pur-
pose than to rear Il calf, there are strong ar
gtlmcnts in favor of having the calves drop.
ped in the fall or winter They can be well
reared ON skim milk, il 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 better fitted for it than are spring or
early summer calves, and then here il greater
profit in winter buttermaking.
Carefully reared on skinned milk, and
after II summer on good pasture, the steer
calves should weigh at least 600 pounds when
year old Economy Of expenditure being
prominently i'll mind, we will suppose the
young steers are kept comfortably during the
winter, but with little grain coming ont in
spring in good shape for another summer on
grass. When two years old they should
weigh say 800 pounds. Again let them be
kept as cheaply as may be, so that they gain
Il little IN weight, or at least so that the loss
of "the sap" as they come of grass, is bal
anced by actual growth in winter. About
March , or by the middle of that month, let
them be put on full feed, hogs following.
With this feeding continued up to June l,
or to the middle of the month, if market con.
| tinues good, the steers ought to be fairly fat
and weigh say 100 pounds to 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 nifty TO sixty bushels of corn will have
been eaten during the life of the steer. The
butter made ought to, at least, give pay fol
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 seventy-fvc 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 prof
| would result therelrom.
In case spring calves are preferred they
might be wintered cheaply the first two
| winters and fattened in the iall--say from
| August or September. Feeding ninety tC
one hundred days. reaching like weights
| with those given above, while one winter:
keep is saved the cattle are fattened at Il con
ycnient time, but often do not find so good 1
market as those sold in late spring or very
early summer.
| 1t will be borne in mind we are not out
| lining system for those who are breeding
| the very best of cattle and who propose t.
secure the largest return in the shortest time
| the general farmer has not yet reached TIT
stage when producing baby beef will BIZ
advisable for him, and the time seems to have
~