The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-12
STATE FARM TEST
 FOR BEEF CATTLE
Breeding From Imported Shorthorns to be Begun al
 Gilbert Tract in Georgetown.

H
 Beef Production in New
 England.-A Deal Exchang-
 ing Country For Bridgeport
 Real Estate.
 Bedding, March 12-The production of certified milk which has been the main industry of the State College farm at Georgetown will be abandon ed this spring to make way for the breeding of thoroughbred Shorthorn cattle. Another name for this breed is the Durham. The farm now makes and sends to Stamford about 200 quarts of certified milk daily and also supplies plain milk to the Georgetown public. The latter branch of the busd- ness is to be continued, but the other will be dropped as soon as there ar rives at the farm a number of high class Shorthorns which have been pur- chased in England to form the nu- cleus of a considerable herd that it is planned to build up. Choice has been made of this breed because 1t is re- garded as superior for the dual pur- pose of milk and beef production.t As a yie1der of milk the Durham ranks second only to the holstein, while as a beef animal it stands ahead of all, being of square symmetrical build. large size, and fast grower.
 
 ure is to practically test the question as to whether beef can profta;bly be raised in this part of the country un- der a system of scientific feeding ap- piled to the best stock The growing shortage of the nations meat. supply and the attendant rise in prices has | led to the suggestion on the part of the U. s. Department of Agriculture and many farm papers that New Eng land, which formerly raised consider ably more than the beef required for it's own consumption, should return to the industry. So far there has been little disposition to do so because of a prevalent belief that milk making pays better than beef making. At present New EngIand,s meat production aside from swine and poultry, is confined mostly to cows past their prime. Of three and four year old well fattened steers there are scarcely any in con1- parison with the Blasts former output Competition from the free ranger of the West killed the industry many years ago and the prospects for it's re- vfvaI are not promising. Superintend- ent TreadWe1l of the Georgetown State farm believes however. that it will revive and hopes that the farms pend ing experiment will prove an import ant factor in hasfening and developing the revival When he was reminded that farmers seemed firmly welded to the idea that there was more money and quicker money in milk he replied: Quicker money yes. but I doubt if the assuTn I5fion of greater profit is correct. Indeed I am fairly confident that we shall be able to demonstrate the contrary.
 If beef growing does come in again it will probably be with a change from former methods. That is it will be on a more intensive culture plan with si1o and green crop feeding largely taking the place of wide pasturage ranges and a winter diet, except for the final fattening process, limited to rough age. Alfalfa and the silo must prove as valuable aids ito beef making as they now are to the dairy business and there is another big advantage to be gained in the substitution of large boned, thoroughbred cattle for the scrub animal. The Shorthorn has all most. disappeared from this section although taking the country through probably half the cattle are of that stain. Thirty or forty years ago they were not uncommon in Reddfng. The farmer then pointed wifh rride to his pure herd or near pure Durham anil maI- Later the Jersey and the Hol- stein supplanted them for dairy pur- poses and the Devon for oxen and the est specimen of the bovine species be- came a rarity.
 By a real estate transaction which was closed a few days ago Emory P. Sanford exchanged his farm, situated in Easton near the Redding line, for the three family house Nos. E135-139 in Parallel street, Bridgeport. The other party to the trade is Moses Lazorrett- The farm is the former White prop erty which became widely known two or three generations Since from the
 medicinal spring located upon it.
 
 about a dozen years ago he started to develop the sale of this spring water and established quite a market for it in Bridgeport and locally, but was too
 much occupied with other business af- fairs to give the matter the attention he would have liked. The new owner will move from Bridgeport to the property and in addition to farming will undertake the distribution of the water probably on a larger scale than has recently been attempted.
 l A striking example of what. the force of running water can accom- plish is afforded by a rock strewn field on the east side of the Saugafuck river near the residence of Duncan Gray. The stones, some of them of very large size, formed part of a wall near the river bank. in front of the house. When the stream rose several feet above it's usual height the torrent and ice blocks, swept along with it took up a stretch of the wall 50 or 60 feet in length and carried the material of which it was composed a distance of several rods as if the stones had been so many chips.
 Albert Williams latest addition to his dairy herd is a Holstein for which he paid $1S0. This is locally about the top price so far although both himself and his brother George have 1 a number of other cows that cost tn em f Hk1f1 1ifyv suiners wonder where the price of milk i will stop in it's upward flight the milk ] producers are asking the same ques- 1 ton in regard to the price of cows. MT.