The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1888-04-07
Celebrated Cattle.
EDITORS DELAWARE LEDGER:


ber of your paper an article under
the above heading, signed Nelson
Warren, in which the writer claimed
the "Very great superiority of Hol-
stien-Friesian over all other breeds
of cattle, as the best milk, butter
and beef producers, and therefore
they are the most valuable kind of
cattle for the farmer"
This if true is a very important
discovery. We thought the ideal
general purpose COW had long since
been abandoned. That there was
no breed of cattle or individual
animal of any breed that was the
best for producing the three dis
tinct products, beef, milk and butter.
In buying an animal for beef we do
not look for the form and character
istics of dairy COW, and in purchas-
ing for the dairy we carefully avoid
any tendency toward beef. Where
milk is sold by the pound regardless
of quality a good butter COW is not
wanted, and in n butter dairy a COW
although giving a large quantity of
milk, might be Il very improbable
animal. The all purpose COW and
the philosophers stone have been
diligently sought but are as yet un-
found.
Are Holstein-Friesian cattle the
best for beef?
Ever since, and two hundred years
before, Mr.. Campbell sold his Short
Horn COW for $4,000 the Short-Horn
has been the beef breed of the world.
During all that time they have been
bred for the single purpose of pro-
ducing beef Mr.. Warren tells us of
what he calls "a very valuable test
now going on at the Agricultural
College of Michigan, the object of
which was to get good average ami
mails of the various breeds, feed and
care for them exactly alike save IN
amount Of food" We hope your
Agricultural College will not at
tempt to prove an undisputed fact,
that if you take two Holstein- Erie
slams, and two Jerseys, and feed
them different, the former will very
probably make the most beef, par
ticularly if they get the most feed.
Whether Holstein- Friesian is the
best breed for beef we will leave to
breeders of beef cattle, and will con-
cede that for that purpose they are
better than Jerseys, but are they
therefore more valuable for the
farmer"
Messrs Miller & Sibley paid s12,-
500 in cash for the Jersey calf
Michael Angleo 1O116 when he was
six weeks old (more than his weight
in gold), and claim the investment
was a profitable one. Amour & Co.,
admit a loss of 81 100000, in ship
ping dressed beefto Eastern markets.
They did this to break down the
feeding and slaughtering of cattle
here. That they have succeeded is
shown by the fact that very few of
our farmers attempt to raise cattle
for beef So long as countless num-
bers of cattle are raised on the
Western plains, almost without ex-
pense, and shipped at a nominal
cost, we cannot compete as pro-
ducers of beef.
1t is urged against the Jersey COW
that when she is old and worn out
she will not bring much for beef.
The dairyman who takes into ac-
count the value of the carcass of
a cow, we are told is like a man
who buys a large stove, that con-
sumes an immense amount of fuel,
and gives but little heat, because at
the end it will bring more for old
iron. Four years usefulness of a
good COW and then given away is
more profitable than a poor cow
kept the same length of time and
fattened and sold. The question in
the breeding or selecting a dairy
COW should never be how much beef
will she make, or what will her hide
and horns be worth. 1t takes a GER
tain amount of food to support a
cow and keep her alive. A COW
weighing 1900 lbs will require one
half more food for support than one
weighing 800 lbs. Keep this up for
eight or ten years and will the extra
400 lbs of old COW beef pay for the
loss. The question is not so much
what can we get for the beef of an
old COW but what has it cost?
Mr.. A. L. Crosby, Catonsville, Md.
figures in this way:
Big Bet, ~ years old, 1000 lbs at
2 cts, $1,000
Old Brindle 13 years, 1 800 at
? cts 5000
Mrs. Goliath's calf 4 weeks
old. 300