Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1914-12-30
. LITTLE |. !. LABOR |! I !! ! | IN
FEEDING i j. FOR ] i. BEEF /
- = - - : 80 - = 49,
Beet Cattle Industry ii Mime:
sofa FITS ii With Itl Daily Dali
!. Business.
81 HOWARD I. SMITH.
byisiea Of Dairy aad ANIMAL Husbandry Miaasssta Co.
s lege Of Agriculture.

IL uSA L0OEo 5SOAA anu Will II uOE0
clover and alfalfa. there is certain to
be. on every well organized farm Of
average size, surplus OF feed, all OF
which cannot be utilized for dairy
cows owing to labor limitations. The
state has an average of one man for
a hundred acres. AS the farms aver
age lit acres In size there are less
than two men for each farm.
Dairy; operations, profitable as they
are when good cows are kept, must
necessarily be limited on the average
farm to the few cows that two men
can milk when putting In full time
planting and harvesting their crops.
On such farm the surplus grain and
rOughago not needed for the cows,
horses, swine and perhaps sheep,
should be converted into beef because
when properly fed it will bring more
than If sold for cash and there will
be more manure to make still larger
crops in succeeding years. Tl
Little Labor Required,
9, Very little labor is required in feed
Ing cattle for beef, The animals are
allowed to run together in a yard and
shed open to the south, which may be
very inexpensive perhaps of straw
and the only. labor necessary is that
of filling the troughs and racks with
grain and hay once or twice q day.
One man can care for carload of
twenty head in one hours time each
day If the racks are arranged con-
veniently.
A majority of farmers in Minnesota
keep grade cows of good size and
even though many Of these COWS in
cline to the dairy form, they produce
a class Of calves that will prove very
profitable to feed If a good pure bred
beef sire Is. used. !, In fact, on high
priced farm land, it is usually better
to sacrifice Is or even so cents per
hundredweight on the selling price OF
such calves finished for beef than to
sacrifice too much on the milk pro-
ducing qualities of the COWS. In the
range country or other districts where
grazing is cheap, one can well afford
to keep a cow the entire year for the
one calf she Is able to raise, and un-
der such conditions it should be \
COW Of special purpose beef type.
Both Milk and Beef
Minnesota could have all the heifer
calves needed for it's future, milk sup
ply and all that the state has labor to
milk IT these were the progeny of
only half tho cows of the state. pro-
viding the best milking cows were
chosen for this purpose and their
calves were to be sired by bulls hav-
ing productive dairy parentage,
preferably those of good size. If all
other cattle we're to be sired by good
pure bred bulls OF the beef. type, we
would have much better calves for
fattening purposes, and would not
need to depend on the range for good
feeding cattle. Such a system would
be made possible through the organ
ization of Farmers Cooperative
Breeding associations, each associa.
ton owning one or more sires of each
type. -
Range Can't Meet Demand.
The very fact that we have been
compelled to pay Z cents per pound
for Western cattle to go into our feed
lots is evidence that the range cannot
supply the demand Such cattle can
be bred on Minnesota farms at =
much lower cost, and the farmers are
not taking full advantage Of present
opportunities unless they breed more
OF them for their own feed lots.
Statistics show that the United
States had 81 per cent less beef cat
tie in 1913 than In 1897 The popula-
ton has Increased approximately Is
Per cent since 1907 Imports from
Argentine have been relatively small
during the last year, not enough beef
to last the American people one week
at their normal consumption, and
there 10. no likelihood Of q large In
crease from that source 40 there are
fewer cattle in Argentine than for
msrly. Ii
A restocking Of American farms il
beginning. This will necessarily be
slow, and while cattle may not con-
tinue to bring IS high as 10 cents per
pound live weight, It may reasonably
be expected that prices will make
beef production profitable in Mime
sofa.
Housina Poultry.
Probably more failures In poultry
keeping can be traced to improper
housing conditions fhan RI al ofhor