The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-12
Ta Tell the Ages of Pigs.
Beef and Our Feed stuiTs.


 l vaiiing for cotton seed meal there were more than 100000 beef cattle fed annually on cotton seed meal in Texas alone. These cattle are still produced in Texas, but are sold as grass fat" stock to local packeries or are shipped to the Northwest to be fed for 150 or 200 days before killing. The mill fed cattle in the Territories north of Tex as and in Arkansas and Louisiana. probably exceeded those fed on meal in Texas. A great shrinkage in the volume of fed cattle is now noted ip this Southwestern region.
 As a result of this failure to hold in feed lots. lean and half-fat cattle are glutting the lower markets at this sea- son and hammering down prices that were already too low in September. It is an open secret that the packeries in this lower country do not want and will not pay for fat stun. Gamers and grass fat steers are the classes of cat tie wanted. This beef is consumed in the Southwest and South. To supply these markets with low grade beef was the object sought to be accomplished in locating the great branch packeries in this region. If one doubts that these packeries are doing a killing business we have uniy to refer to prices recently paid for low grade cat tle-ranging from $1.S to $2.50 per hundred for cows and from $1.70 to $3. .25 for steers on October 31. Heavy receipts explain these poor prices.
 The cattle interests of the Southwest muse feed and fatten a large per cent of the output for two primary reasons First. to market these cattle more slowly; second, to decrease the num- bers in the "canner" class by adding to the number in the fled" class This can be done with prort to the individ- ual feeder by observing some of the most practical rules discovered by feeders of those feeds available in this region.
 Truck growing, as an industry, offers its cooperative hand to the cattle feeder and is a factor of great import ance in this field. Heretofore the feed CTS have been absolutely regardless of the droppings from thousands of cattle fed a ration rich in nitrogen and ig- nored the fact that the packeries saved the contets of the digestive system and shipped same back into the community as 'tankage," where the steers had been fed. If saved, this material is worth $4 for every ton of cotton seed meal fed.
 Feeders too often overlook the neces- sity of using corn chops or rice polish
 
 meal in feeding steers or fatteninE cows A dash of either in the ration makes faster gains. better coat, less waste fat and saves shrinkage during shipment. resulting finally in better price per pound on the market and more pounds of beef for feed con- sumed. Fed cattle must stand up un- der shipment or the feeder will be the loser; they must be in good heart on arrival or they will not fill when fed to recover their fast. and finally, unless they stand shipment well. they will not look good in the pens when buyers are ready to bid. More cattle must be fed 140 or 150 days to insure that they stand up properly under shipment.
 Our Southern feeds are cheap at present prices, compared with those of other sections. All feeds are higher in every section. The prices for finished cattle respond to this scale of high prices reasonably and. will improve in that particular as the season advances. Feeder grades of cattle are cheaper than for months past, which affords an opening such as we have not recently had for the professional feeder to 'buy them right" Moreover, there is not a large number of cattle on feed.
 Figures are fallacious and may mis- lead. rather than instruct. if applied too closely, but we should know what standard gains for fair grades of cattle really are. The following weights are taken from the work of the Texas Ex- pertinent Station in 1898.
 On cotton seed meal and hnlls alone good 2-year-oid steers gain in 100 days feeding, 271 pounds per 1000 pounds of steers. Fed 140 days these steers gain 357 pounds per 1000 pounds live weight but during the last 40 days they are fed lightly on corn chops. little sorghum nay improve the ration.
 On ration of hulis, cotton seed meal and corn chops for 100 days steers gained faster than without the chops BOT per 1000 pounds weight. By run ming them 40 days longer they gained 404 pounds on the original 1000 weight.
 This shows a material advan A ge de- rived from the right use of cor, chops with the ration of hulls and meal. The proportions at which these feeds were given are about five pounds of hulls and one pound of cotton seed meal to half pound of corn chops. Pure rice polish may be substituted for corn chops if wanted.
 The facts in evidence plainly show that we are overlooking a great nlate- rial resource in our failure to blend our abundant and cheap feed stuffs in- to rations that increase fully 100 per COW or steer while adding 80 or 40 per cent to original weight and producing a fertilizing material of the highest value to our vegetable growers.-Farm and Ranch.
 About Turkeys.
 Phil C. Travis.