The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1904-04-21

l. Inferior feeder that gained but eighty
pounds In four months. as marketed. Z.
Fancy selected feeder that gained nearly
four pounds a day fpr four month";. a
few days before marketing
classes and grades Of cattle as seen at
our leading live stock markets, believes
that all who finish cattle, either of
their own breeding or those purchased
as feeders in the market, will become
more intelligent producers If they be
come more familiar with the POSSIBLE
ties Of the various grades of feeding
cattle. There is much Of pecuniary
value to the cattle feeder in knowing
the correlation between the various
grades of feeding cattle and the sew
eral grades of fat cattle.
As the result of experiment in the
fattening Of steers of the various mar
ket grades Mr. Mumford reports II
number of interesting conclusions.
Space admits only few of these CON
illusions here. and any one who would
thoroughly study Mr.. MumfOrd's facts
should do so in the new bulletin, No.
90, of the Illinois station. In the mean.
time here are few ideas:
More rapid and much larger gains
may be secured on the better than on
the more common grades.
The results of this experiment clear
ly show that when the various grades
OF beef cattle are put in the best mar
ketabe condition there is very def
mite relation between the percentages
Of dressed beef and the grade of cattle
involved. The better the grade of cat
tie the higher the percentages of
dressed beef
Low grade cattle carry larger per
centages of internal fat than the better
bred ones. while there appears 10 be
more abundant and more evenly dis
tributed layer of surface fat on the
better bred steers.
As the differences between feeders
tend to disappear as the feeding proc
cSs goes ON. the differences in quality
between the various cradles of feeding
cnttle are more pronounced thnn such
differences between the various grades
of beef or fat cattle Quality is the
more important in feeding cuttle. con
dition i'm fat cattle.
Primarily this experiment WAS out
lined to determine the relation between
the grade of feeding steers and their
feeding qualities" TINT is. whether
the quality of feeder determines his
capacity for making gains, his ability
to use feed economically and the ma
ture of the gains made However. both
the market and slaughter tests of the
various grades as finished clearly indi-
cate that To the packer and butcher
condition is OF first Importance.
The grade of cattle the finishing of
which will return to the cattle feeder
the greatest profit will depend upon
the following considerations /. The
relative ability of the various grades
to use feed for the production of gain
and finish. > The relative cost of thu
various grades of feeding cattle 3
! Cost of feed. I. The method OF feeding
and time of marketing >. The range
in prices between prime and common
rough steers or between the highest
and lowest grades of beef cattle
The greatcr the cost Of the feed
used the greater is the advantage in
favor of the better Cradles both he
cause under normal market conditions
| In these grades the GAINS and finish are
put on with lrs~ Relative feed con
sumption fhau in the lower ones nj
though this difference is less marked
In the inferior than in the intermediate