Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1886-03-06
EARLY MATURITY.
An Indispensable Quality In Cattle to Roth
thep breeder and Grazier.

An indispensable Quality In Cattle to Both
the breeder aud Grazier.
The early maturity question: as re-
CARDS beef breeds, is unqueStionably
one of first importance to III breeders
and graziers; to the graziers 1t may be
said. first. because their profits depend
much upon economy of time and food,
turning over their money as quickly as
possible. and turning out As quickly as
possible. fat and tit for the butcher, the
stock they buy in lean condition; but II
the grazier has precedence, ON the
ground of his direct and immediate IN
%tcrest, the breeder necessarily has
chronological priority, inaSmuch rs an
animal must come into the world be-
fore it can eat and be eaten. Let US
take first. therefore, the breeders par;
in this matter.
In his selection of the type of animal
the breeder. of course, is influenced by
the market. and here the feeder is his
patron and promptcr, whose demands
must be considered and satisfied. The
feeder NAV be, indeed, the breeder him
self, who, as feeder also, becomes his
own customer. but this fact does not
alter the aspect of the case, forthe only
difference is that he must look forward
to his own wants instead OF to the
wants of another man, and breed ac-
cording to the sort of stock he will rc-
quirc.
Size and weight, doubtless, will con-
tinuc to be in demand, for a considera-
be proportion of buyers, not only for
becf-making purely, but for general
purposes. as the COW that can milk well,
fatten readily, and then fall II good
weight, is a more profitable animal
than the light-built row which can not
carry much flesh; but as the bust
ness of feeding for the largest
profit is usually a race against
time, the animals that can make
up and ''ripen' the fastest at the
least cost will be mostly those required,
wherever the feeder has a cultivated
farm and all the appliances and build
ings of advanced agriculture, \ dill
fercnt stamp of animal. but still in
clining to early ''ripening, and a
kindly thriycr, will be wanted to meet
rougher and more primitive conditions,
For all that, however, the animal that
sets in the mold of maturity ut the
earliest possible age, and packs on
beef genuine beef, not Il tlayorlcsS adj
vance upon veal-will certainly be
wanted. Its production involves ques-
lions which should be understood at
the outset,
If we must have animals with the
hereditary habit of rapid growth, and
to assume the form and fully
furnished flesh points Of adults at
an age when average cattle are little
beyond calfhood, we must be prepared
to yield somewhat of constitutional ro-
business. and to sacrifice longevity.
The individual animals reared for beef
alone are not intended TO have long
lives. The object Of their entrance
into the world is their early exit; but
their fitness to meet the demands of
the business for which they are pro-
duccd must be inherited from their
parents, which must have, otherwise
they can not transmit, the desired gen
erosity and early completion of
growth. The brecd, therefore, kept
for the purposes of this business,
must be one which speedily reaches
the height Of maturity, and, as
a necessity consequent to a recognized