Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-02-10

and more by every farmer, that his
continued prosperity Will depend
largely upon diversifying his farming
operations; that is. in being inde-
pendent Of any particular line Of his
operations, so that failures in one
line will not particularly. embarrass
him. 1t is readily seen from observa-
tons In all sections, hat the farmer
who diversif1es his farming operations
Is more prosperous, and is enabled to
keep up the production of his land
much longer, than especially the
strictly grain farmer. While the pro-
duction of cattle in the United States
has increased slightly for the past
few years. this increase has not near
~ kept up with the demand due t.
increase in population. Consequently
there is a better outlook for raising
cattle at the present time than aver
before. -
Raising Cattle.
While it would be most desirable
to begin handling cattle by raising
YOUR W stock, in many cases this is
not possible or practical. That is,
many farms are SO situated that they
can grow feed for handling stock
during the winter, but would not
ture during the summer. In such
cases the cattle needed for consum-
ing the surplus feed might be bought
to greater advantage than attempting
to raise them. In other cases, where
much land is available for pasture, it
might be advisable to raise cattle and
sell them to those who have grown
the feed. Where possible to do so,
the feeding of home grown cattle is
most satisfactory.
Buying Cattle.
Where it is not possible to raise
the cattle that are needed for utiliz-
ing the surplus feed on the. farm or
where more cattle are needed than
course to'buy them on the market.
Where only a few head are needed
they can usually be bought from
neighbors who have a surplus. Where
a carload or more /are needed it is
probable that better satisfaction win
generally be had by buying them in
the large markets. 1t is reg%rettable,
but u hat as a general rule reg
cattle buyers a pick up cattle
in the country to better advantage
the farmer can; and as a gen.
eral thing those who raise or have
enough cattle to make up a carload
will often ship them to the markets
and sell them for less than they
mhgh get for them at home. We
have found, in our experience of buy
cattle. that n can generally go
to the markets. and buy the same
grade of cattle for less money than
he car get them offered to him for
in the county: and At the same time
of selecting even size M grade
which Is not so possible in the coun-
try.
When the cattle are shippers into.
the large markets they are usually
bought by spectators and divided up
punches of v sizes and grade,
and there apparently is not much
more risk of getting undesirable
stock from the stock yards than there
would be in getting hem from, neigh
bors with whom one is not very we'll
In buying cattle on the market it
is advisable to have in mind exactly
what n wants and about what it
should be worth. before going to the
market. and then go te some respon-
sible commission merchant and tell
him exactly what you want. He will
pick it out for you and buy it gener-
ally on much better terms than you
are able to get them for yourself.
That is, the stock yards are really the
place of a large number of
commission firms. They do business
among themselves and while there is
law against an outsider going in
sellin~ or buying direct. they new
ertheless are inclined to favor each
other and in a way. resent any trying
to get by them. Their charges are
very moderate. and they are very &C.
|
Winterink Cattle.
The win,ering of stock cattle as al
general thing is not given the con-
which would produce the
best results. especially in the West.
where little effort is made to put up
any feed. The general idea OF win-t
terlns is TO have the cattle come
throush and be able to stand up when
grass m in the spring. They usu-
ally &c into the winter in fairly good |
shape. and as a general thing lose