Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-07-07

He was a likely enough calf with the
characteristic markings of the Hereford.
so closely did he resemble this breed
that several experienced stocKmen who
saw him thought he was pure bred.
tie was not a remarkable calf in any
respect; just a good, healthy, vigorous
individual of average size and quality.
He was born in a big Bermuda grass
pasture where there was plenty of sun
shine, wide areas of rough land to range
over with shade trees scattered here
and there about, and a stream of clear.
cold water running through it, fed from
bold spring. His ancestory was not
of the best; at least there are those
who could have picked a number of
flaws therein. His grandmother was
an ordinary south Georgia COW which
grew up under semi-range conditions,
and having fought ticks and struggled
TO secure a livelihood at the same time
from sparse pastures was naturally un-
dersized. Having but a slight dash Of
Hereford blood in her makeup she show
ed markedly the characters of her scrub
of piney woods origin.
The grandmother was brought To
Athens and mated with a pure bred
Hereford sire of high quality and noble
lineage. As a result of this cross a
heifer calf was dropped and it was as
tonishing to see what a complete char
acterization of the Hereford breed it rep
resented. At the proper time this heifer
was mated with another pure bred Here
ford sire of fine quality, the resulting
progeny being the animal on which this
story is based. In other words, the
steer which made good was but three
generations removed from the primitive
scrub OF the piney woods. The wonder
full evolution or transformation wrought
through the use of the pure bred sire
IS hard to believe for one who has not
actually seen it; ami yet were IL not
possible to effect such changes in COM
paratively short time. the question OF
improving our live stock would not be
the relatively simple and inexpensive
one which il is and for which the far
mers OF the south have every reason to
be devoutly thankful.
The calf was allowed to suckle his
dam and spend the first summer ac-
quainting himself with the large Ber-
muda grass pasture which was his
home and adding to the strength and
vigor of his body by climbing up and
down the hills OF a typical Piedmont
grazing area. In the autumn he was
weaned and fed during the first winter
in a large, roomy bow stall with other
calves Of his own age. The food con-
sisted primarily of silage made
from Kafir corn and sorghum to which
was added a small amount of cotton
seed meal, never over two pounds per
day. being fed and a much smaller
amount for the greater part of the time.
or course. plenty of exercise was pro,
vided for and there was an abundance
of pure water available at all times and
plenty of rock salt
In the spring of the second summer
this calf was turned out to Craze and
I received no grain. About the LIST of
August IL was decided to prepare him
for the state fair and he was stabbed
on that account and fed all the sila ge
he would eat daily and a mixture OF
equal parts of cotton seed meal, corn
and cob meal and wheat bran. Nc
special effort was made to force him.
though he was induced to eat as liberal
ration as possible his manger being
we'll supplied with food at all times
He had a good appetite and aztec free
| " but not excessively, and never got
off feed on that account In November
he was taken TO the fair where he at
| tracted much favorable attention. Later
he was brought back to Athens and
about December LIST was sent out on q
| tour of the state. He was kept or
| the train for nearly six months and
during that time, could, of course, not
be fed silage. His ration of cotton
seed meal was also reduced somewhat
and he was fed a mixture during the
period in question of corn and cob meal