The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-05-10
AGRICULTURAL.
The Meat Supply Of the East.

1t is we'll for eastern farmers to study
the present condition of the meat sup
ply. Several things are to be consid-
cred One is that the hard winter has
probably killed off a great many of the
cattle on the western ranges, and thus
the supply of western beef has been
greatly reduced. This is the probable
ity. All know that it has been the
worst winter for years, and all the re-
ports 60 to show that there will be
large shortage in this direction. Then
there is the "beef scandal" which is
certainly growing to be powerful fac
tor in the question of eastern meat
supply. Ifthere were plenty of good
beef animals on hand now in the east,
they would find market at fair prices.
But the eastern beef supply is very
short. The whole business has been
forced into innocuous desuetude by the
inroads of western beef. Dairy cattle
have taken the place of beef cattle on
almost every farm in New England.
And the most important question now
is, will il pay to go back to the beef
types of cattle? 1t is generally taught
that the beef and dairy type cannot be
proftably combined in the same ami
NAL. If we want butter, we must
breed butter cows; if we want beef, we
must breed for beef alone. The idea
that there is such thing as q general
purpose COW has been laughed at and
frowned upon until scarcely person
dares to advocate such thing. But
lately Prof. Thomas Shaw of the Min
nesota Agricultural College has come
forward in defense of the combined
beef and dairy animal, and as he is well
known to be an able and honest man,
his articles have attracted a good deal
of attention and have stirred up new
interest in the subject. Prof. Shaw
maintains that while it does not pay to
raise cattle for beef alone, yet by using
the general purpose COW to breed from,
her milk can be utilized for dairy prod.
ucts, and her calves, especially the
males, for beef. AS things are, this
might be very good suggestion for
eastern farmers at this time.
But the element of time is to be
taken into account in any work of this
kind. 1t takes long time to grow a
steer to beef age, and if one begins
now, by the time the steer is ready for
beef, the markets might have very
different outlook This is the greatest
obstacle to the raising of beef cattle.
But it is most likely that any man of
good judgment. and ordinarily skilled
in dressing beef could grow beef, kill
and dress it, and make the work pay
well. The more regular the supply,
the better it would pay, but in any case,
the right kind of man would be
pretty sure to make money at such
work. There are men and families
who could succeed in growing beef
when they could not succeed in dairy
ing. Some are fitted for one thing,
some for another.
But there are other animals grown
for meat which mature more quickly
than steers. First there are sheep.
You can grow lamb in six months or
30 and send it to market, and often at
| paying price. The mutton breeds of
sheep are steadily gaining ground, and
there is at present no branch of farm
ling which gives promise of better re-
turns than sheep breeding. There is q
good and growing demand for mutton,
and especially for the meat of young
sheep, and this demand can be foster
ed by intelligent management, and thus
eastern mutton can be pushed into the
place of western beef.
Sheep can be more economically kept
than any other kind Of farm stock. A
new plant has lately come into much
prominence as sheep food, the dwarf
issex rape. An acre of this will when
Ten or twelve inches high keep one
hundred sheep week. After the rape
has been fed off, it grows up quickly
again and thus gives green food for a
long time. The value of this plant for
\ sheep ought to be more generally
known. 1t will not do to let them eat
too much at first, as it will have the
same effect as too much green clover
Hbe common and best way to use the
plant is to use portable fence or hur-
dies and thus let the flock eat off a
small part of the field each day. Some
grain should be fed with the rape to
keep the animals in good order and the
lambs constantly growing.
Wool is low, but there is good pros
pect that it will be as high in the fu-
ture as in the past and possibly higher.