The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-01
Prof. Shaw ON Feeding Cattle for
Beef

Beef.
Prof. Thomas Shaw of the University
Of Minnesota, who has done much ex-
cellent work in beef, pork and mutton
raising experiments in that State. deliv-
cred an address upon Feeding Cattle
for Beef" before the East Tennessee
Farmers Convention, which was we'll cal
culated to stimulate the interest in that
industry and was listened to with the clos
est attention by a large audience. He
said that this was his first visit to the
south and he was greatly pleased with
what he had seen of it. He had always
supposed that Tennessee had a sandy soil
and he was glad to find that it was not
so, and that the clay loan Of that region
was admirably adapted to agriculture He
said he had never been in a state that he
regarded as more beautiful than Tennes-
see, and that its temperate climate and
comparative nearneSs to the great mar
kets and shipping ports gave it an i'm
mense advantage over the colder and
more distant states of the Northwest
If we, in Minnesota, can raise beef cat
tie at a profit, up there where we have
sucn long, cold winters, surely you Ten
nessee farmers, with your short mild win
ters and abundant forage, should make
double the profit" He would not advise
the heavier beef breeds for the rolling
and hilly country of East Tennessee, but
the medium sized breeds, such as the
Devons, would give the best return; and
that where oats were worth 30 cents and
corn 40 cents bushel, and the finished
animal could be sold at $3.50 to IS per
hundred, there would be good margin
Of profit for the grower; over and above
that cash profit was the fertilizer for on
riching the land, The great, the crying
need OF the soil to-day is humus, which
constant cropping has exhausted. and the
best method of restoring that humus was
by raising forage crops and feeding them
to cattle, returning the excrements (both
solid and liquid) to the soil, with a cor
rect rotation of crops, bringing in a legu-
minous crop every third year. With ma
nure on the corn or wheat crop there
would be little need of boughten fertiliz-
ers and the soil would be increasing in
Fertility, enabling the feeding of more
STOCK and giving more manure to the
soil. He thought that steers ought to be
nnlshed off and sold to market at twenty
four to thirty months old and warned the
farmers to beware of too extravagant
feeding when fattening for market, ten
to twelve pounds of grain a day, with
provender, was enough to fatten cattle.
There was no best breed of cattle. each
breed has its especial points of excellence
and each has its place. He told the
farmers that the greatest expense was
the winter feeding, but, of course, that
expense can be greatly reduced where
winters are mild and stock can feed upon
pasture almost all of the year; therein
was the great advantage of the Tennes-
see farmers possessed. Prof. Shaw urged
the farmers to keep more and better
stock, feeling certain that they would en-
rich their land and their pocketbooks by
so doing. Certainly the soil and climate
of Tennessee are both extremely favor
able; it will be because the farmers fail
to improve their opportunities If they fail
to secure the profits awaiting them.