The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-03-30
BREEDING AND FEEDING FOR
BEEF.

The following instructive talk by Supt.
o. C. Gregg was crowded out of our reg
ular report of the Farmers Institute,
and is now given, it being of great inter
est to ali:
Perhaps it will be as we'll to consider
this subject in three parts:
First, what kind of an animal to feed j.;
second, how to produce the food; and
third, how to feed it.
The first requisite in profitable feeding
is to have a suitable animal. This can
be produced with absolute certainty by
using a thoroughbred sire, and IN no 9th
er acdy. A good native steer, weighing
!, 200 lbs. will dress 30 per cent. of its
live weight, while the grade steer, of
same weight, will dress IS per cent. 30
that we shall have from the native steer
800 lbs. of beef against $50 lbs. in the
grade steer. Now if the butcher pays
$500 per 100 for the native steer live
weight) he should pay $3.50 per 100 for
the grade, and still get his meat at &c per
pound.
If you will look at the market reports,
you will notice that the "pony" steer al
ways brings the highest price. The
"pony" is steer weighing from 200 to
400 lbs; with short legs, broad back,
and from 800 months TO two years old.
And right here it should be remember
ed that steer can be made to weigh
300 lbs. at Is months with less feed and
consequently less cost than to reach this
weight in nearly four years. There is a
happy medium in everything which the
farmer has found in hog raising; neither
the smallest class of pigs nor the largest
hogs are the most profitable.
The main constituents of our cattle
foods are Protein, or flesh formers, carb-
hydrates or heat-producers, and fat,
which is also heat or fat producer. An
acre of the different crops will contain
these elements as follows:
Corn, so bu.; stalks, 2 tons, Protein,
335 lbs; carbohydrates, 5000 lbs; fat, LOB
lbs; cost, $500.
Oats, 75 bu.; straw, q tons; Protein,
$50 lbs; carbohydrates, $500 lbs; fat, 40
lbs; cost, 81.
Ensilage, Is tons; Protein, $50 lbs;
carbohydrates, $500 lbs; fat, $50 lbs; cost
$500.
Clover hay, 8 tons; Protein, 414 lbs;
arb-hydrates, 300 lbs; fat, so lbs; cost,
$500.
A standard ration for fattening ami
NAL, or mich COW, is "a lbs. of dry mat
ter, and must contain-Protein, ESQ lbs;
carbohydrates, 1880 lbs; fat, 40 lbs.
1t now remains for the intelligent feed
er to compound the produce of his land
into a ration which corresponds to the
above figures. Where the above feeds
are lacking in Protein it is well to use oil
cake or bran to make up the deficiency.
1t is safe to say that for want of prop
er knowledge in preparing rations one
half of the feed given to our stock is
wasted. We raise and husk our corn,
leaving the stalks in the field. The
stalks amount to / the feeding value, and
are wasted. Husking costs 5 cents per
bushel-another quarter gone. Then
take the balance to mill and give I for
grinding, and you have stalks wasted, t;
husking, I; grinding, !; total, 9-16, and
we have 7-l6 left. BY threshing our oats
we get the same results. Now If farm
ers continue to furnish the land and dc
all the work for 7-16 of the crop, and
then waste a large fraction of that in
feeding, l fear that we shall continue to
hear the same old cry that farming
does not pay"