Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1905-04-06
kelly's Fine Cattle Sale.
The Aberdeen-Angus sale

kelIy's Fine Cattle Sale.
| The Aberdeen-Angus sale Of
w. S. Kelley at Logan last Sat-
urday was a success, as the
| following interview will show:
Reporter Well, tell us about
your sale Mr.. Kelly. Was it a
success?
Kelly-Yes speaking gener-
ally, the sale was a very good
one, considering the fact that
beef cattle are very low, and
pure bred stuff always goes in
sympathy with it. Some of the
cattle went far below their
value, but this was to be expect
ed where the buyers are local
and individuality is everything
and breeding and pedigree are
nothing. Some Of the bluest
blood in the breed went through
that sale. Again, this was the
first time in the history of the
county that Angus females were
offered at public sale.
| was really breaking the ice.
So considering everything |
call the sale a complete success.
| have a great deal of money
invested in good cattle. But
the success of the sale is more
gratifying to me than the dol
lars and cents it brings in. 1t
shows that the people appreciate
my work and that my efforts in
the up building of the cattle of
the country has not been in
vain.
Fortunately these cattle all
fell into good hands and they
will be heard from later.
But say Bob, the sale has
demonstrated one thing, the
farmers of the county areready
and anxious to improve their
cattle if an opportunity is offer
ed them to buy good sires at
their own prices, that is one in
competition with the other
And after all that is the most
satisfactory way to sell any
thing, and especially good
cattle.
When / consigned five bulls
to the sale, | felt quite sure
that number would satisfy the
demand, but could have sold
several more and was quite
sorry | did not put them in the
sale. Better blood is sadly
needed on our farms. There
was the opportunity to distri-
butte it but | neglected il.
Reporter But say Kelly,
does it pay the ordinary farmer
to put good sires on the farms!
Kelly-To be sure, there is
no better paying investment.
The bull is half the herd. The
poorer grade of COWS one
has the better bull he should
own. "Like begets like" is
never truer in anything than
in cattle breeding.
Let me illustrate. Recently
[ sold some grade steer calves
to go to the packers at almost
$40 a head. The average age
of these calves was about four
teen months. Ride a mile in
the country any day and you
will see calves of that age that
will not fetch half that price.
Possibly not more than one
third.
You ask the difference?
Breeding. The sad eyed calf
you see by the wayside has
been bred along the lines of
scrub gone to seed.
Mine were bred along the
Angus lines, and were of that
low blocky type so characters
tic of that breed.
The packers demand a wide
blocky steer with short legs,
and just enough of neck and
head to live on. These are
waste parts, and the less they
have the better they kill out.
You see the packers are after
dollars, not bones. Pay? You
can easily figure out the differ
ence in price of those calves /
sold and the scrub how many
you would need to raise equal
the price of a good bull.
Reporter-Are not the other
beef breeds as good as the An
,r,,c2