Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-09-02
How to Select Feeders.

III. W. Mumford Ill. Agr. College.I
The ability to select stockers anl
! feeders which have within them tha
possibility of making prime steers j.
one of the first and most Important
lessons for the stockman to learf Z.
Profits in steer feeding come not So
much from skill in feeding and man
agement as from Intelligent buying
and selling. The profit resulting frora
an increase during the fattening per-
od OF tae value per pound of the
total weight of an animal is as i'm
portant as that resulting from the
method employed in the feeding and
management. 1t is seldom possible to
produce at II profit gains which do not
| increase the value per pound of the
total weight of the animal. Hence
the Importance of intelligent buyins'.
or the selection of feeders and stock :
ers of gooo quality.
Good handling quality indicates that
the possessor is a good feeder. IT
shows that the animal is in good
health, or thrifty and capable of be :
ginning to gain as soon as an abund :
ance Of food is supplied. We speak
of cattle possessing good handling
quality when the skin is mellow AMI
loose A thick messy coat of hair.
of medium fineness and a moderately
| thick skin are also desirable.
The points indicative of good cor :
stitution have practically been Gov
cred under form. Good constitution
! is indicated by wide, deep chest, ny
| fullness of the heart girth, depth ar q
breadth of body and good handling
quality While we want refinement
of form and bone, otherwise spoken
of as general quality, we do not war
that refinement carried to the point
of delicacy. Too much refinement
means delicacy, or a lack Of constitu-
ton, and no animal lacking in constitu-
ton should find its way into tina
feed lot. The desirable characters
tics of beef form, quality and constitu-
ton should be found in we'll bred,
high grades of any of the leading beef
breeds.
In the interest of uniformity in the
| finished product 1t should be observes
that high grade Herefords can usually
be put on the market in the fewent
| number of days and suffer most from
carrying beyond the point of ripe
ness; that Shorthorns and Aberdeen
! Angus grades, while little slower %
mature are in fully as strong dema1d
ain the market as are grade Herefor'ls
and that Aberdeen-Angus and Gallo
ways may be carried longer on fl IL
feed than other breeds of beef cattle
without indications Of punches or
rolls Of fat which are so strongly dis
eliminated against in our markets.
The question of age should not he
| overlooked. A thrifty young steer of
good weight and in good flesh is %
| be preferred to an older stunted
steer 1t should be said, however, that
stunted steer Of any age or weight
| is profit spoiler in the feed lot. Uni
formity irl color Of feeders is desir-
able, but the mistake should not be
| made of getting uniformity of col or
at the expense of more importa ut
characteristics. 1t is possible to Sc
cure good colors, reds and blacks, in
steers of very poor quality and con-
tanning very little beef blood. If it is
! a question of choosing between a
combination of good quality and ctr-
rect conformation and good colo s.,
take the quality and conformation,
and let some other party have the
colors.