The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-12
MARKET SUMMARY.

This is a season of the year when farmers
receiving numerous contributions OF
calves from their small herds. The first
impulse, in a majority Of cases, is to send
the little things to the markets and the
slaughter pens, thus terminating in its In.
fancy a product which, through the applica-
ton of thoughtfulness and care, might be a
source of considerable subsequent profit to It's
owner. OF course, the veal market should
be supplied, for there are many who think a
great deal of veal meat for the table.
But this is a period when the Minnesota
farmer above all others in the agricultural
and breeding industry, should give some
thought to the morrow in this connection.
There is no profit except in the mind of
the makeshift farmer, in sending young
calves to market at the present time The
pending dearth in the cattle supply, particu-
larly in the Northwest renders 1t almost
imperative from a purely selfish business
standpoint that well-bred calves should not
be sacrificed. but rather that their existence
should be nourshed to the end that in the
course of year or two they shall become
c, i.tributions to the dressed meat markets OF
the world.
1t is neither difficult nor expensive to rear
a calf OF course in the matter of selecting
those to be spared from infant death, much
must depend upon the quality. In this state,
conspicuous for it's dairy interests. bull calves.
except in rare instances, should go to the
block as soon as they are fit; that is to say,
unless they represent purely beef breeds. In
that case they ought to be retained for the
supply of the market for steers And this
is the interest which the farmers of Mime.
sofa now have the opportunity to develop.
Young stock for steers of the beef quality
are in increasing demand just now and are
likely to continue so for long time to come.
In the caase of female calves of dairy breeds,
the question of whether they shall be dis
posed of for the supply of the veal market
is one to be determined by breeders and those
who are capable of judging the milk-producing
strains of the stock through pedigree, with
respect to their estimated value.
A consricuously sensible expression OF
sopin:on was recently given by writer to
the Orange Judd Farmer, in connection with
this subject. Mr.. A. P. Grout, of Illinois.
RAISE and Feed More Beef Cattle" was the
subject to which he addressed himself and
among other things he said: -,,-~<>>-s /
Never try to make beef breed out OF
q milk breed, or a milk breed out CT beef
breed, and above everything, keep to one
line of stock and do not change about FIRE,
Quently. man must have an ideal and
work toward it through long series or
years. Not only is this. true, but the stock
breeder must understand the nature OF
crossing and make only such crosses as will
s
10 q constantly higher standard In buying
cattle to feed, pick cut those having a good
loin straight back, good shoulders, '
smooth, velvety skin and of gentle disSosi-
ton, and 1t is important to select those
which will feed we'll and take on fat
easily"
From all sources of prospective autumn
supply comes the inquiry as to the quarter
whence the young stock is to be derived for
the requirement Of herds. Texas for many
years offered a fruitful field, but season after
season the outcome became less and less
until no reliance was to be placed upon that
quarter. There were two reasons existing
for this condition, first and most important,
the cattle were not to be found there, and
in the second place everything produced was
required to meet the home demand. There
has this year. been advance in Offering
figures, owing to the sharp competition in
the locality for cattle to feed and as a con-
sequence the ranchmen of the North were
unable to proitably restock their grazing
grounds for the season.
The following extract from the Indiana
Farmer affords some idea of the Importance
OF the cattle industry of this country The
reader will please note in this connection the
concluding lines of the quotation
Total number CT cattle In United States on
June l. 1887, 4o,5l0,O00; 1892 "a 067, 900; 1885,
45,lO5,GOO Our loss this year was 1S45 OoO
mere were ICur Eastern states and Ne
braska that made a gain this year TALL
other states and territories sustained a loss)
on cattle While our exports of live cattle
since 1892 have averaged a fraction over l.
Ol0 daily, our shrtnkage for the same time
has averaged $500 daily. This entire shrink
age is on meat cattle except 5S4, 0GO on mich
cows. In 1881 and the two years following,
Notwithstanding the short crop of grain
our gain from 1881 to 1888 was 5000 600 OF
cattle Our last two years with unparalleled
grain crops we have sustained a loss of more
than 5000 600 cattle.
1t Is singular contrasting when four mil
lion farmers gain a million cattle and Ave
million farmers lose eight million in the
same number of years with grain 80 per
cent cheaper than in 1881. With our cattle
losing $3.50 daily, and our population gain
ing 1900 daily it will not be but another de-
cade until We will be just where our Eu-
rcpean neighbors are on cattle To stop the
annual shrinkage is not enough To keep in
proportion to our population we must gain
at least 100000 annually on cattle Besides
this within the last ten years our obserya
ton at the Louisville stockyards leads us TO
believe that the actual value of our beef cat
tie has deprecated % per cent on account
OF the mixed breed of Jersey cattle. The
most reasonable cause of our cattle shrink
age is the slaughtering of calves