Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1907-04-12
Handling Beef
Cattle Successfully

One of the most successful live stock
feeders for market purposes in Allen
county, O., is R. E. Norris, says Amer
lean Agriculturist. Last fall he secured
from Chicago and Kansas City forty
one head of carefully selected cattle.
Ten head were added to the herd
which were picked up in the country
in his own section. He paid on an av-
erage S33.32 per head. In selecting cat
tie for fattening he says that he pre-
ferS steers that are we'll rounded and
have good general conformity to tho
beef type. He selects with view to
having the cattle weigh 1000 pounds
on Oct. l. If properly selected, he says
that he gets best results with Here
fords, Shorthorns and Galloways. He
does not have any special preference
if the stock cattle come up to his IDEAL
The cattle are put in the stable late
in the fall, when the weather becomes
unsettled. He believes in giving the
steers plenty of hay after they are
taken from grass. He says it pays him
to feed plenty of roughage until after
the holidays. He then begins giving
them little corn, feeding them very
lightly at first. He gets them in full
feed about Feb. 10. By feeding them
about 100 days it takes about fifty or
sixty bushels of corn per head to fatten
for market. At Elmwood farm he has
a barn 40 by 60 feet in which to feed.
There is a lot on the north and east
sides of the barn in which the cattle
are allowed to run except during very
stormy days. He has racks on both
sides of the barn in which to feed.
From the time he purchases his cat
tie until they are put on the market he
figures on about 200 days. The aver
age weight of the cattle secured in the
fall of 1905 was 800 pounds at the
time they were purchased, Oct. 1. The
average weight when sold at Pittsburg
in May was 1,162 pounds. They were
sold at $3.50 per 100. AS he let's the
cattle run loose in the barnyard, he
prefers to have them dehorned. He
does none of the dehorning himself,
but selects cattle to meet this condi-
ton. From the ffty-one head Of cat
tie sold last spring he estimates that
he secured about 800 loads of manure,
which he valued at 81 per load. 1t
was put on meadow land after harvest
with manure spreader, which, he
says, is one of the best all round i'm
plements that the farmer can have.
The fodder is fed from the shock.
In addition to the ffty-one head OF
cattle, Mr.. Morris wintered 100 head
of hogs. In estimating the number of
animals he wants to follow the cattle
he says he prefers to have about two
head of swine for each steer. The
swine are allowed to run with the cat
tie all winter. Poland-Chinas have
been found very satisfactory on this
place. The swine are bought about
the time the cattle are brought in. Mr..
Morris likes to have them weigh about
$50 pounds each. He usually pays the
market price, which varies slightly
from time to time. The swine get no
special feed other than what they pick
up following the cattle.
Red PoIIed Cattle.
The first notable importation of Red
Polls to the United States in their mod
ern form was made in the year 1873
by Gilbert F. Taber, and this herd was
maintained for some years in Putnam
county, N. Y, says Denver Field and
Farm. A number of importations have