The Topeka state journal., 1897-12-15
KANSAS BEEF STEER
"And His Sister" as Told by
Secretary COburn.
Interesting Report Issued by
See. of A Agricultural Board.
Matters OF Interest at the State House
and in State Politics

board of agriculture today issued a re-
port for the quarter ending December
81. 1897.
The report treat Of the Beef Steer
and His Sister,
It says:
we are told all flesh is grass. and
the goodness thereof is as the flower
of the field
Mature and men. cooperating. have
made Kansas a marvellous blending of
pasture and cornfield-the domain of
grasses.
I'm luxuriance, profusion, nutritious
qualities, and economy of production,
hers are nowhere surpassed; this,
whether applied to the corn, blue-stem,
timothy, clovers and bluegrass of her
eastern half. or SOrghumS, milletS, al
falfa and unpretentious grammas of
the fertile plains and higher attitudes
The premier, prince of all these, is
Indian corn.
From these her meats and milk and
wealth are made; from these annually,
for two decades, she has given to the
shambles alone animals having an ever
age home value exceeding % million
dollars, or an aggregate of 5S3 million
dollars; out of these and by these her
future wealth and all it brings of good
must largely come. As finished product
and raw material they are symbO1zed
in the beef steer, his sister, and the
izatiOn and proper recognition this
work is dedicated"
Recognizing the tremendous signii-
canoe of beef production as factor in
Kansas agriculture and Kansas pros
perity, the state board of agriculture.
with a view to gathering and dissemin-
attng practical information pertaining
to this important subject, has inter
viewed several hundred of the men
longest, most successfully and most eX-
tensiVely engaged in cattle fattening
q n fNe VII fGc n
the state. In connection with much 9TH
er pertinent and useful matter, the
statements OF a large and representa-
tive number OF these are given IN the
pages of the report. resume or aver
age, made from a careful analysis of
the statements furnished by these cat
tlemen as to many principal features
connected with and discovered from
their business operations. is presented,
thus;
The average length of time those who
reported have been in the business of
beef production in Kansas is 10 years
The average of the ages they recon-
mend for the castratiOn of bull calves.
ranging from one hour to one year, is
81 days.
Their recommendation for the feeding
Of calves the first winter is wheat bran
and shelled corn, or bran and oats, in
sufficient quantities, with hay or other
coarse feed, to keep them thrifty and
growing.
a large majority favor dehorned or
fattening lot such cattle have 10 per
cent greater value than those with
horns. Thirty reports give them a
greater value of II cents per 100
pounds: 26 place is at $2.05 per head.
The higher price they say fat cattle
without horns are likely To sell for av-
erages 131z cents per 100 pounds.
The time required for properly and
safely changing cattle from a grass to
a full or maximum grain diet is % days,
or from cornstalk fields, 16 days
oil
labor considered, it is not profitable in
Kansas to keep fattening cattle tied in
stalls
F'orty-four per cent advise keeping
grain constantly accessible to fattening
cattle, and Sc per cent say it is best to
feed twice daily, and only so much at
each meal as will be eaten before the
next feeding.
Ninety per cent say it is profitable to
grind some or all of the grain; and the
average cost of grinding is given as IA
cents per bushel. Ten per cent say
grinding is not profitable.
Those who have soaked corn for fat
tening cattle say its value is enhanced
p per cent thereby.
Those who have fed wheat bran with
corn esteem it highly. saying it aids di-
gestfon, lessons the quantity of other
and perhaps more costly foods required,
and haStenS fattening- From 15 to .
per cent (by Weight) of wheat bran fed
with shelled or ground corn is reported
profitable, when bran costs no more
than S8.40 per ton.
Linseed Oil-cake meal is praised by
those who have fed it with corn, and 40
feeders say they are justified in using
more or less of it at a cost not exceed
ing $19.70 per ton. as a very desirable
adjunct of corn costing 25 cents per
busheL A smaller number report ia
vorably on the use of limited quantities
Of Cottonseed meal
The cost of grazing in pastures av-
eraged with that on open ranges is 50
cents per month.
Eighty per cent favor the use of loose
or barrel salt, and 20 per cent prefer
rock salt for the feed lot or pasture.
The principal objections offered to rock
salt are, that cattle spend too much
time licking it in order to satisfy their
wants. and that in doing so their
tongues are likely to be made sore.
Using as basis of comparison of
value wild prairie (blue-stem) hay at
81 per ton as forage or ''roughness" for
cattle being fattened with grain, the
Kansas cattlemen on the average rate
other forage with it like this: Red
clover, at $3.50 per ton. alfalfa, "a: al
falfa straw (thrashed). S2.35; millet,
$3.50; sorghum or Kafir corn grown in
hills. with the seed on. S3: sorghum or
katir corn hay broadcast or in drflls),
$3.50; oat straw. $40, and wheat straw,
S105.
The reports show with practical un-
animity that. with her mild dry winter
climate. abundant cheap grains and for
age. unequaled transportation facilities
and possessing within her borders the
second greatest livestock market of the
world. Kansas must be and is the o.
propriate and most suitable maturing
ground for not only her own, but the
vast numbers Of range-reared steers
from the southwest and west, and a
large proportion of those native to the
plains and valleys of the northwest as
we'll
The report also contains the statisti-
cal tables issued during the entire year
and is a document of much value and
Importance.