Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-02-27

No other ayocatiOn Of Importance has
been advanced as the art of breeding
beef cattle has with so few rules TO
govern, says a correspondent OF Breed,
er's Gazette. Each owner of q herd.
whether composed Of five animals or
fifty, has been his own lawgiver and
has drawn the lines taut or slack, as he
would. SO marvel not at the perpleXi-
lies and doubts that have been made
md the results looked for. Other av.
OcatiOns have rules for measurements
by the tapeline the square, the diyid-
er, trusting the eye only partially. The
young breeder who thinks he already
has perfection impersonilied in his
herd, taken individually and collec
lively, will be wise if by close study
he finds what he had considered per
fection can yet be improved OIL and
more thoroughly beautlfed and brought
up to show ring requirements.
He who through selection in coupling
can add an inch In width to the carcass
is 4 benefactor an indisputably skill
full breeder. The inch so secured is
necessarily added to the innermost re
cesses of the animals structure, that
portion where quality and money value
abound. Certainly not an atom worth
considering Is on the surface for this
is alike on the beast that is broad and
the one that is narrow. Bear in mind
that in this addition very little Is add
ed to the bony frame.
How can we widen the carcass by
adding the inch referred to? Not by
changing your male upon every dis
covery Of 4 want in your herd, but by
selecting the female of greatest breadth
of carcass, sending her to your neigh
Dor, whether he be near or somewhat
remote, who possesses sire of note
in the point referred to. One of the
six imported bulls belonging TO the
Alexander herd possessed the feature
mentioned. We remember to have
measured his breadth at the hips, find
ing an added width of inches beyond
the average But that bull had frac-
ton of blood outside of that rated as
fashionable, and his services were not
sought.
Cottonseed Meal Feed.
W. T. McSparran of Pennsylvania,
writing in Breeders Gazette on the
value of cottonseed meal as a food for
fattening steers. says: I'm steer feed
ing where the ration has been we'll
cared corn silage, mixed timothy and
clover hay, corn and cob meal and cot
tonseed meal it has been always a
most satisfactory addition to the ra-
ton, and without making any specific
experiments have concluded from the
thrift and gain of my steers that the
cottonseed meal was very profitable.
This conclusion has always been justi-
fed also when my steers were sold"
Best Feed For Steers.
A mixture Of three parts corn and
cob meal and one part each of ground
oats, bran and oilmeal makes a good
grain ration for steers, says G. S.
Plumb in Rural New Yorker If any
change were to be recommended in
this, it would be to increase the pro-
portion of cornmeal in the later stage
OF fattening One can leave out some
Of the above grains. but good feeders
will probably give good enough re-
turns to justify the expenditure, and
cattle usually grow faster and do bet
ter on variety Of grains than on only
one sort The bran is desirable on ac-
count of its laxative and cooling ef-
feet. while the oilmeal helps produce
a silky coat Of hair and a mellow skin.
If | were to leave out any of the
above, it would perhaps be the oats.
II you have plenty of clover hay, feed
it entirely instead of timothy. Timo-
thy is not the best sort Of hay for cat
tie unless very fine and leafy and well
cured.
SiIaRe For "Baby Beef"
The silo should prove a real help to
those producing baby" beef Silage
will help make up any possible short
age in summer pastures resulting from
drought, says Professor w. A. Henry
In Breeders Gazette. 1t will take the
place of roots at far less cost. The al
lowance OF silage used In such cases
should always be materially diminish
ed. however. as the animals approach
the finishing period. Too heavy an al
lowance of silage will leave the bodies
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