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Cattle Registry Associations 
 
 American Aberdeen-Angus Breeders' Association, 
 Chas. Gray, Secretary, 
 
 Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 111. 
 
 American Galloway Breeders' Association, 
 R. W. Brown, Secretary, 
 Carrollton, Mo. 
 
 American Hereford Breeders' Association, 
 R. J. Kinzer, Secretary, 
 Kansas City, Mo. 
 
 American Polled Shorthorn Breeders' Association. 
 
 J. W. Martz, Secretary, 
 Greenville, Ohio. 
 
 American Polled Hereford Breeders' Association, 
 B. O. Gammon, Secretary, 
 Des Moines, Iowa. 
 
 Red Polled Cattle Club of America, 
 H. A. Martin, Secretary, 
 Richland Center, Wis. 
 
 American Shorthorn Breeders' Association, 
 F. W. Harding, Secretary, 
 
 Union Stock Yards, Chicago, 111. 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF 
 CATTLE RAISING 
 
 By EDWARD N. WENTWORTH 
 
 ARMOUR'S BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH 
 AND ECONOMICS 
 
 Assisted by V. H. MUNNECKE 
 
 MANAGER ARMOUR AND COMPANY'S DRESSED 
 BEEF DEPARTMENT 
 
 and by JAMES BROWN 
 
 IN CHARGE OF CATTLE BUYING FOR 
 ARMOUR AND COMPANY 
 
 ARMOUR'S BUREAU OF 
 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND ECONOMICS 
 
 R. J. H. De LOACH. Director 
 UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO 
 
 iqzo 
 
 REQ. NO. 462. S53 
 
^<s^ 
 
 Copyright, iqio. Armour and Company 
 
 First Edition. 
 June. iqio. 
 
Table- of Contents 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION, by James Brown 6 
 
 THE FUNCTION OF CATTLE 9 
 
 Position of Cattle in the System of Farming q 
 
 Origin and Kinds of Cattle ; . . . . 9 
 
 CATTLE BREEDS 1 1 
 
 Breed Qualifications 11 
 
 The Purebred Animal 11 
 
 How the Purebred Developed 12 
 
 The Pedigree 13 
 
 CATTLE BREEDING " 15 
 
 How Cattle Are Improved 15 
 
 Grading Up Beef Cattle 15 
 
 The Relative Influence of Sire and Dam 17 
 
 The Proportion of Purebred Cattle 17 
 
 Community Breeding 18 
 
 The Distribution of the Breeds 19 
 
 THE PRODUCTION OF BEEF CATTLE 20 
 
 Foundation Blood for Beef Production 20 
 
 The Problems of the Range Cattle Breeder 20 
 
 Buying Feeders 21 
 
 Feeding Equipment 21 
 
 Some Cattle Rations 23 
 
 Growing the Calf 25 
 
 The Advantage of Young Cattle 27 
 
 Essentials of a Complete Ration 28 
 
PAGE 
 
 Silage iq 
 
 Requisites of a Good Silo 30 
 
 Silo Capacities .« 30 
 
 MANAGEMENT OF THE BEEF HERD 32 
 
 Three Types of Cattle Farming 32 
 
 The Maintenance of the Breeding Herd 33 
 
 The Pasture 34 
 
 The Contents of the Hay Stack 34 
 
 Sanitation on the Farm 36 
 
 Cattle Diseases 37 
 
 The Cow and Her Calf 41 
 
 Gestation Table 41 
 
 THE CATTLE INDUSTRY. 43 
 
 The United States' Position in Beef Production. ... 43 
 
 The American Beef Export Trade 44 
 
 Relation of Export Trade to Cattle Production 44 
 
 CATTLE PRICES 46 
 
 The Relation of the Market to the Feeding Business . 46 
 
 Why Markets Fluctuate 47 
 
 The Two Classes of Price Fluctuations 47 
 
 Seasonal Variations in Price 48 
 
 The Problem of Marketing Beef in All Seasons 4Q 
 
 Methods of Reaching the Most Favorable Markets . . 4q 
 
 The Effect of Supply and Demand on Hoof Prices . . $0 
 
 THE BEEF CARCASS 5^ 
 
 The Relative Value of Carcass Cuts 5^ 
 
 Factors in Carcass Values 53 
 
 The Relation of Carcass Price to Hoof Price 54 
 
PAGE 
 
 MARKET CLASSES OF CATTLE 56 
 
 How Cattle Are Classified 5^ 
 
 How Cattle Are Graded ^7 
 
 Characteristics of Different Grades and Classes of 
 
 Beef Cattle and Butcher Stock 58 
 
 Grades and Classes of Feeders and Stockers 5q 
 
 CATTLE TYPES 61 
 
 How Type Is Determined 61 
 
 Characteristics of the Standard Types of Beef Steer . . bi 
 
 Dressing Percent ^2 
 
 MARKETING CATTLE 64 
 
 Preparations for Shipping 64 
 
 Shipping Counsel ^4 
 
 Handling Cattle at the Market 66 
 
 Slaughtering Cattle 67 
 
 Byproducts 6q 
 
 REFERENCES 71 
 
Introduction 
 
 THE growing tendency among cattle feeders is to regard quality 
 and finish in cattle as superfluous, due to the narrowing margin 
 in price between the poorest kinds of cattle that reach the market 
 and those of best grade. The majority of feeders can remember when 
 such animals as canner cows had no value with the packer or retail 
 butcher, and the increasing uses which have been found for them, 
 sufficient to give quotable prices from day to day, have been inter- 
 preted by these feeders to mean that quality no longer has the value 
 it once enjoyed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Quality 
 cattle will always be properly appraised, because they produce the 
 class of meat that is easiest to sell, requiring a minimum of effort 
 on the part of the ultimate salesman. 
 
 From year to year the standards as to market types and classes 
 are changing, based on the changing demands of the consumer. 
 The cattle feeder usually learns of these changes when he sells, and 
 occasionally feels that the market asks for any kind of cattle other 
 than what he brings. The chief difficulty in meeting exactly the 
 market demands, lies in the fact that the standards of cattle of one 
 or two decades ago still persist in the minds of many feeders and are 
 perpetuated by the types of steers recognized by the m.ajority of 
 judges in the tat stock shows. Whether or not the feeder intends 
 to do so, he carries in his mind the standard of perfection established 
 by the heavy, richly finished bullocks popular twenty years ago, and 
 he interprets the trimmer killing characteristics which modern 
 cattle show, coupled with lesser size, as distinct steps backward. 
 
 The chief factor in bringing about the change in type has been the 
 change in retail demand. The public, while more fastidious as to 
 the cuts of beef it consumes, does not eat as much meat as it did 
 formerly, and will not tolerate the waste in cuts that the rich steaks 
 and roasts of a half century ago possessed. The modifications in 
 market standards are based on these two simple facts, and the trade 
 must educate itself to the idea. The retailer has been most sensitive 
 to this change in demand, but the reaction on the packer has been 
 so direct that he has been forced to translate immediately the 
 desires of the consumer into a type of cattle suitable for the produc- 
 tion of the best selling cuts. The principal factors that have caused 
 
the change are the increase in the population of cities coupled with 
 the reduced ratio of producers ; the inroads on the family purse made 
 by luxuries, which have restricted the percentage spent on necessi- 
 ties; and the reduced size of families which has permitted groceries 
 with small meat shops vending pound to two-pound cuts to make 
 deep inroads into the business of the specialized butcher. 
 
 The demand for heavy cattle varies little throughout the year. 
 The markets of the big cities, principally New York, Chicago, 
 Philadelphia and Boston, supply the principal trade, the sales being 
 largely to hotels and clubs that have a standard demand for certain 
 cuts the year around. This natural demand for heavy finished cattle 
 takes only about 1 5 per cent of the cattle on the market, their live 
 weight being 1300 pounds and up, and their carcasses making about 
 750 pounds of beef and up. In order that prices for this class of 
 cattle remain steady and hold the same relative relation to other 
 classes of cattle, the supply must be regular as a few too many can 
 readily glut the market. Unfortunately, it is difficult to finish 
 cattle of this sort at all seasons of the year ; few of them coming on the 
 market in the period from August ist to February ist excepting 
 cattle finished for shows and for the Christmas trade. From 
 February on there is usually a sufficiency of this class of cattle, while 
 late March and April may find a few too many with consequent 
 drops in price. On the other hand, in times of scarcity of heavy 
 cattle, buyers having orders for this class of stock make competition 
 so lively that steers weighing 1400 pounds or up which will satisfy 
 their trade, often bring $1 to $2 above their real value as compared 
 to smaller cattle of the same grade. A judgment of values based 
 on the price of this class of cattle either in times of scarcity or 
 surplus, is bound to be misleading to the average feeder. 
 
 The profit in beef production in the future will increasingly lie 
 in qualiDy' stock. Early maturity and quick money turn-overs are 
 certain to be the keynotes of future meat production, due to high 
 land and feed values. Cold blooded stock will never utilize feed 
 for fattening and finishing until the animals are well grown, three 
 years old or over, while breeders and feeders will need to have their 
 money back out of their animals by the time they are two years old, 
 unless the cattle are range grown, when the difference in production 
 costs will permit their profitable retention for another year. A 
 six-months calf of good blood, dropped in the spring, can be fattened 
 so as to market it the following spring or summer from any cornbelt 
 farm, but a six-months scrub will not efficiently utilize its feed be- 
 cause its growth is slow, and it will not develop as rapidly, fatten 
 as well, nor grow as satisfactorily as the well-bred animal. Well- 
 bred calves can always be finished from calfhood on, and can make 
 the best quality of carcass, since they can utilize efficiently feed that 
 the scrub cannot consume economically from lack of capacity or 
 from inability to fatten or grow. 
 
The use of purebred sires is the certain means of success in the 
 future. This does not mean the indiscriminate use of such animals 
 without regard to results — prices paid for them must be always as 
 firmly grounded in returns as prices paid for feeders — but it does 
 indicate that through them the efficient beef production of the 
 future must be built. Quality as recognized today means better 
 meat for the consumer, better killing qualities for the packer, and 
 more efficient feeders for the producer. People are not buying 
 meat nowadays to throw part of it away, and the majority of 
 families with restricted pocketbooks are buying the medium weight 
 cuts. The livestock market simply interprets the tendency of 
 the meat-eating public and it recognizes that consumers will not 
 tolerate waste except at a discount. — James Brown. 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part I. 
 
 The Function of Cattle 
 
 Beef cattle are the keystone of live 
 Position of stock farming. They fit into the farm 
 
 Cattle in the economy more perfectly than any 
 
 System of other animal because they require less 
 
 Farming labor for their care, they are less sub- 
 
 ject to disease, they consume cheap 
 roughages and high priced concentrates in proportions 
 better suited to ordinary farm rotations, and their prod 
 uct is less subject to speculative and seasonal fluctuations 
 than any other class of meat animals. Beef cattle take 
 less fertility from the farm when they are marketed than 
 any other major farm product. Grain can be sold for 
 cash as can the better quality of hay, but low grade hay, 
 cane, corn stalks, and pasture have a very limited and 
 unremunerative market. The direct sale of any of them 
 increases the costs in harvesting and marketing and 
 reduces the producing value of the land to such an 
 extent that few farmers can get a proper return for it. 
 Cattle supply the necessary market for both crops and 
 farm labor, and through manure retain or even increase 
 the richness, mellowness, life and waterholding capacity of 
 the soil. Cattle feeding is the ideal operation from the 
 standpoint of permanence of farming, of acquiring a 
 comprehensive farm equipment, and of fully employing 
 farm labor the year around. 
 
 Cattle were the first animals 
 Origin and domesticated by man for purely agri- 
 
 Kinds of cultural purposes. They were kept 
 
 Cattle for their meat and hides only in the 
 
 earlier times, but later were mJlked 
 and still later used for draft purposes. Unfortunately the 
 kind of cattle that are best for beef are not best for 
 
 Page Nine 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RMS IN G 
 
 milk or draft, and for many centuries cattlemen have 
 selected their animals with these differences in mind. 
 The breeders of continental Europe have tried to com- 
 bine in their breeds all of the traits that make animals 
 useful for milk, beef and draft, so-called triple purpose 
 animals, but since many of the characters are antagonistic 
 to each other, certain compromises in type have had to 
 be made, which have rendered the animals less efficient 
 for each of the special purposes. The principal example 
 of this type is the Fribourgeois, the popular yellow and 
 white breed of northeastern France, southeastern Belgium, 
 Luxemburg and southwestern Germany. The almost 
 complete replacement for draft purposes of cattle by 
 horses in Great Britain and America many years ago 
 has rendered the draft requirement unnecessary, and the 
 common breeds in use in these two countries are either 
 dual purpose or single purpose. The dual purpose 
 breeds are those that have a fair value both for milk 
 and beef, and include the iMilking Shorthorn, the Red 
 Poll, and- the Devon. The special purpose breeds are 
 either milk or beef, although each dairy breed has some 
 value as a meat animal and each beef breed has some 
 value as a milk producer. The dairy breeds in order of 
 their beef value are Brown Swiss, Holstein-Friesian, 
 Ayrshire, French Canadian, Guernsey and Jersey. The 
 beef breeds are led decidedly by the Shorthorns and 
 Polled Shorthorns in milk production, with the Herefords, 
 Polled Herefords, Aberdeen-Angus and Galloways, second- 
 ary in this particular. 
 
 Page Ten 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part II. 
 
 Cattle Breeds 
 
 Breed As shown in the preceding para- 
 
 Qualifications graph, beef cattle may come from any 
 of six specialized breeds, while dual 
 purpose and even dairy breeds show some beef merit. 
 Within the beef breeds themselves, there is more difference 
 between good and poor animals of one breed than there 
 is between the different breeds. Supporters of each 
 breed claim special characteristics for their favorites 
 which are supposed to make them better than their 
 rivals, but it has never been proved that the qualities 
 for which one breed may be famous do not appear in the 
 representatives of other breeds. For example, rustling 
 qualities and ability to fatten on grass are supposed to 
 be pre-eminent Hereford characteristics; quality, milk 
 production and adaptability, Shorthorn characteristics; 
 and wonderful hardiness, a Galloway characteristic; yet 
 records of our fairs and ranges can nearly always show 
 where the breed in question has been excelled by a few 
 individuals of other breeds in the points where supremacy 
 was claimed. Hence the young breeder can well afford 
 to take the stock that suits his purpose where he is located, 
 regardless of breed, keeping always in mind the market 
 for his young animals. 
 
 Race horse breeders have a maxim 
 The Purebred that "What is bred in the bone will 
 Animal come out in the flesh." This applies in 
 
 a striking way to cattle, for "cat- 
 hammed, fish-backed" dams and sires produce "cat- 
 hammed, fish-backed" calves just as surely as one roll- 
 ing tumbleweed will infect a field. Conversely, broad- 
 backed, meaty cattle will as certainly produce broad- 
 
 Page Eleven 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 backed meaty calves. This quality of being able to 
 transmit to the offspring the beef qualities for which 
 selection has been made, convinced breeders that selected 
 stock was purer in its inheritance than unselected and 
 the term purebred was adopted for such animals. This 
 does not mean that the animals are absolutely pure for 
 such traits and v/ill transmit no others, but it does mean 
 that they will do so with infinitely greater regularity 
 than the unselected kind. No strain of cattle now exists 
 that cannot be made to breed more uniformly than it 
 does now, but the average purebred animal breeds so 
 much more uniformly than his grade and scrub rivals 
 that his worth cannot be gainsaid. The cattle raiser 
 who uses purebred bulls over a period of years invariably 
 has more uniform and cheaper finishing steers than the 
 man who uses bulls of mixed bloods. ' 
 
 Pure breeds of beef cattle arose 
 How the through the selection of animals 
 
 Purebred slightly superior to the stock of the 
 
 Developed surrounding districts with respect to 
 
 beef production. The first improver 
 of beef cattle was an Englishman, a resident of Leicester- 
 shire, named Robert Bakewell. He worked with the old 
 Longhorn stock of central England, and being a skilled 
 anatomist was able to appreciate the means whereby 
 changes in external form would affect the carcass. He 
 selected for increased thickness of loin, rib and quarter, 
 for more rapid fattening qualities, and for early maturity. 
 By mating together related animals he fixed these traits 
 so strongly that his cattle became known all over England, 
 while his sheep which he improved by similar methods, 
 were so well known that George Washington imported 
 rams of Bakewell breeding for use on his Mt. Vernon 
 estates. From a careful study of Bakewell's methods 
 the Colling brothers, the Booth and the Bates families 
 established Shorthorn cattle, and a few years later the 
 Tompkins, Prices and Hewers founded the Herefords. 
 
 Page Twelve 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Three or four decades after this the foundations of the 
 Aberdeen-Angus were securely laid by Hugh Watson in 
 the north of Scotland, while numerous breeders were 
 busily evolving the Galloway. During the eighties of 
 the last century the problem of horn bruises in shipping 
 cattle became so important in America that the Polled 
 Shorthorn and Polled Hereford arose. Each of these 
 breeds was developed to meet a special economic need, 
 and the animals chosen as founders of the breed were 
 arbitrarily selected on the basis of their transmitting the 
 desired characters to their descendants. 
 
 The ultimate test of the purebred 
 The animal is its possession of a registered 
 
 Pedigree . pedigree. Not the mere possession of 
 
 a pedigree counts, for all cattle have 
 pedigrees. This term is just another name for ancestors, 
 or a tabulation of ancestors. All cattle have ancestors, 
 but purebred cattle have certified ancestors, and it is 
 well known that the average of its ancestors are well 
 above the average of the ancestors of scrub animals. 
 Poor cattle with poor cattle in their pedigrees produce 
 poor cattle, while good cattle with good cattle in their 
 pedigrees produce good cattle. Registered animals have 
 a recorded pedigree behind them which shows the kind 
 of stuff of which they are made. The registry association 
 by its approval of the animal's ancestry gives assurance 
 to the breeder of a well marked standard of calves result- 
 ing from its use. 
 
 PaP,a Thirteen 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 
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 Pa^e Fourteen 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part III. 
 
 Cattle Breeding 
 
 Native cattle in any section of the 
 How Cattle country have differed considerably 
 
 Are Improved from the type which has come to be 
 accepted as standard by American 
 steer feeders. The general procedure by which the quality 
 of this native stock has been improved has been through 
 the grading up with sires of improved and purebred stock. 
 These animals come from strains which have been selected 
 for special beef purposes and in addition to possessing the 
 desired type are usually able to transmit it to their off- 
 spring. Despite the loyalty of the supporters of the 
 different breeds to their favored stocks there is little 
 difference in the ability of Shorthorns, Herefords, Aber- 
 deen-Angus, and Galloways to transmit improved beef- 
 making ability. Because the Aberdeen-Angus and 
 Galloways happen to be black and polled their sup- 
 porters have believed them to be more prepotent for 
 grading purposes than some of the lighter colored animals 
 but it is now known that these characteristics are inherited 
 separately and have no relation necessarily to the trans- 
 mission of fattening qualities and early maturity which 
 are passed on on their own merits. 
 
 Grading up of the stock of a locality 
 Grading up means literally to use purebred bulls 
 
 Beef Cattle on native cows generation after genera- 
 
 tion. The characters which make a 
 purebred valuable are thus transferred to the herd, the 
 degree of transfer depending on the number of crosses of 
 improved blood. For example: I f a Hereford be crossed 
 to Florida ' piney-woods" cows, half of the inherited 
 characters of the offspring are Hereford, the other half, 
 "piney-woods." If to these crossbred heifers. Herefords 
 
 Page Fifteen 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 are again mated, on the average three quarters of the 
 traits inherited will be Hereford, and one quarter "piney- 
 woods." This does not mean that any single individual 
 is three-fourths Hereford, but only that the average of 
 all characters in that generation is three-fourths Here- 
 ford. As a matter of fact it is possible, although not 
 probable, that some animals of the second cross might 
 have entirely Hereford characters, with a similar number 
 only half Hereford, and with the others intergrading be- 
 tween, but the average would still be three-quarters 
 Hereford or 75 percent. By continuing the use of Here- 
 ford bulls for several generations, the proportion of Here- 
 ford characters would be increased, while some of the 
 characters would be pure Hereford, beginning with the 
 second cross. The proportion of these pure characters 
 would increase with each generation although not as 
 rapidly as the total number of Hereford characters. The 
 more that Hereford sires are used, the more likely the 
 resulting grade dams will transmit Hereford traits, and 
 the purer the characters of the new generations of calves 
 will be. The rate of increase in these characters is shown 
 in the follov/ing table : 
 
 One cross 50% Hereford traits. 
 
 Two crosses 7^% Hereford traits. 
 
 Three crosses ^7-5% Hereford traits. 
 
 Four crosses 93-75% Hereford traits. 
 
 Five crosses 96.875% Hereford traits. 
 
 Six crosses 98.4375% Hereford traits 
 
 And so on, each additional cross producing animals 
 having a proportion of Hereford characters half way 
 between the last generation and 100 percent. This does 
 not apply to Herefords only but to any improved breed 
 of livestock. Herefords are used simply for illustrative 
 purposes. Some breeds seem to be more potent in trans- 
 mitting their characters than others, but this is due to 
 their possession of more noticeable characters than the 
 
 Page Sixteen 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 others. For example the Aberdeen- Angus is black, a 
 dominant color in inheritance no matter what breed of 
 cattle it is found in, and polled, also a dominant character, 
 hence it markedly affects the appearance of its calves. 
 This is only in appearance, however, as other breeds are 
 able to build up the fattening tendency just as rapidly. 
 Neither sire nor dam transmit to 
 The Relative their offspring all of the qualities 
 Influence of which they possess, but on the average 
 
 Sire and Dam each transmits only half. On this 
 account it is highly important to have 
 well bred bulls so that their contribution to the offspring 
 will be more uniform. The cows of the herd always 
 carry more widely divergent characters than it is pos- 
 sible for any one bull to possess, hence their hereditary 
 contribution to the calves will be very much more variable 
 than the hereditary contribution of the bull. Therefore 
 the old statement that the bull is half of the herd is cor- 
 rect, but if we consider his power to make the herd 
 uniform, we can really consider him as having more than 
 a fifty percent influence. 
 
 Purebred sires to increase the pro- 
 The Proportion duction of better beef animals, provide 
 of Purebred the most serious need of the live- 
 
 Caff/^ . stock industry at present. While the 
 
 cattle producers of the cornbelt and 
 of the range, in general realize the desirability of the 
 better bred sires there are other sections of the country 
 in which the real value of the improved type is not 
 understood, and in which such campaigns as the Better 
 Sire Movement are bound to bring first-class results. 
 Figures obtained from the secretaries of the different 
 breed associations present the following facts for the 
 consideration of beef cattle producers. Part of these 
 figures are accurate while part are based on estimates, 
 but they are the most reliable figures presented to date. 
 
 Page Seventeen 
 
Living 
 
 Unregis- 
 tered 
 
 Living 
 Bulls 
 
 I 25,000 
 
 35,000 
 
 55.0CO 
 
 500,000 
 
 
 
 500,000 
 
 
 1 50,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 
 
 18,500 
 
 6,000 
 
 4,000 
 
 12,000 • 
 
 7,000 
 
 7,000 
 
 25,000 
 
 6,500 
 
 1 1 ,000 
 
 PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Number Number Number Number 
 Breed Registered 
 
 Aberdeen-Angus 309,300 
 
 Herefords. . . ^ 88q,ooo 
 
 Shorthorns 1,500,000 
 
 Galloways 47.300 
 
 Red Polls q5,QOo 
 
 Polled Herefords 21 ,000 
 
 Polled Shorthorns. . . . 48,400 
 
 On January i, iqio, there were estimated by the 
 United States Department of Agriculture to be 44,385,000 
 beef cattle in America. There are approximately i ,200,000 
 living registered purebreds reported in the preceding 
 table or 2.7 percent of the total number of beef cattle in 
 the country. The two societies having the largest number 
 of unregistered purebreds, the Shorthorn and Hereford, 
 were unable to estimate their respective numbers, but 
 even if there were half as many unregistered as there are 
 living registered animals the total number of purebreds 
 in the United States would still be under 4 percent, a 
 decidedly inadequate number from the standpoint of 
 efficient beef animals. 
 
 One means whereby this low pcr- 
 Community centage of purebred animals can 
 
 Breeding be more efficiently utilized is through 
 
 the system of community or circuit 
 breeding. If the farmers of a community organize to 
 use one breed and exchange the sires either under a 
 system of community ownership or by private sale to 
 one another, additional years of service may be gotten 
 out of high-class breeding bulls whose usefulness due to 
 relationship to the females of the herd may be outlived 
 in two or three years. Furthermore, the concentration 
 of good cattle in a community will attract large numbers 
 of purebred buyers and will give the market cattle 
 shipped from the district a reputation among shippers 
 and killers. Waukesha County, Wis., and Gage County, 
 
 Page Eighteen 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Neb., are well known examples of the advantage of 
 co-operation between neighboring breeders. 
 
 While supporters of the different 
 The breeds of cattle try to claim all the 
 
 Distribution good things in the beef category for 
 
 of the Breeds their favorite breeds, the bulk of live- 
 stock men have a feeling that it is not 
 a question of breed merit for beef production but of the 
 merit of the individual bull, cow, or steer. Nevertheless 
 the average run of the different breeds finds them defi- 
 nitely adapted to certain types of farming and certain 
 general conditions, although no breed can be considered 
 exclusively to monopolize a certain region or a certain 
 function. " For example: the Hereford is particularly 
 well adapted to the range country because of its ability 
 to fatten on grass; the Shorthorn is well adapted to 
 general farming because of its size, ready fattening and 
 milking qualities; the Aberdeen-Angus is especially well 
 adapted to cornbelt feed lots and baby beef production 
 because of its early maturity and most excellent carcass 
 qualities; the Red Poll, to the central west because of its 
 dual purpose ability; the Galloway, to the north and the 
 short grass country because of its hardiness; and the 
 Polled Shorthorns and Polled Herefords to the same 
 regions as the horned breeds where hornlessness com- 
 mands a premium. While individuals of each breed may 
 succeed where other breeds are especially adapted, yet 
 there is little doubt as to the general utility of the dif- 
 ferent breeds under the conditions described. 
 
 Page Nineteen 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part IV. 
 
 The Production of Beef Cattle 
 
 The success of growing cattle for 
 Foundation the market depends in a large degree 
 
 Blood for Beet on the kind of calves that are produced 
 Production Unless the right foundations in blood 
 
 and type are laid, no amount of feed- 
 ing by the professional feeder or skill in killing and cutting 
 by the packer can make up for the original deficiency. 
 Hence it is up to the breeder of feeding cattle to use the 
 right kind of bulls and continually to breed up the 
 females of his herd. Unless proper mating is made at 
 the start, choice to prime steers are rarely if ever, produced. 
 
 The producer of range cattle has 
 The Problems many problems to face due to short- 
 of the Range ages of feed and water, that make his 
 
 Cattle Breeder questions of special importance. The 
 chief difficulty to engage his attention 
 is the prevention of deterioration in size, and he must 
 constantly introduce heavy boned bulls to keep his stock 
 from "running out." It is the belief of students of this 
 situation that the chief remedy to be applied is not 
 through breeding but through feed, since the range is 
 an abnormal environment for cattle bred to excel under 
 the conditions of Scotland, England and the American 
 cornbelt. The deficiency seems to be in the concentrates, 
 that is, the protein and mineral matter, and for this pur- 
 pose legumes should be introduced wherever possible, 
 lespedeza, alfalfa, or any other clovers that make a good 
 start. To tide over the feed shortages of snowbound 
 winters and extra dry summers, it will pay the ranchman 
 to grow corn, kafir, cane, or other crops that will make 
 silage, and put it away in pit silos that can be dug at 
 
 Page Twenty 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 convenient spots for watering and feeding. These will 
 be found very useful in ordinary seasons, and by keeping 
 close watch for spoilage and using only the older silage, 
 reserves may be maintained for three or four years. 
 These may seem to involve a greater degree of extra 
 work than the rancher would desire, but he must remember 
 that only by the attention to such details as these, can 
 he continue to make his business uniformly successful. 
 The feeder buyer has the most 
 Buying important job from the standpoint 
 
 Feeders of profit and loss that is found in the 
 
 cattle industry until the animals are 
 finally bought for the kill. Few feeders realize the extreme 
 importance of buying their animals at the right price. 
 Fewer still realize <ithe factors that determine feeder 
 values. Until a few years ago feeder prices were deter- 
 mined by the cost of finishing, and cattlemen could take 
 more chances on coming out through the big end of the 
 horn than they can nowadays. Since the outbreak of 
 the war feeds have increased in cost and the demand 
 for meat has been so accelerated that the cheaper and 
 lighter carcasses not salable in pre-war times are now 
 taken at correspondingly high prices. In addition to the 
 reaction against waste in cuts, there is an actual increase 
 in the willingness to eat unfinished meats, so the spread 
 between the thin and finished animal which held in past 
 years has been decidedly narrowed. This necessitates 
 the closest possible study of finishing costs on the part 
 of the feeder buyer, and the most careful supervision of 
 the purchase of his stock. Feeder cattle not prudently 
 bought can never make money, no matter how economi- 
 cally the feeding may be managed. 
 
 The majority of feeders do not 
 Feeding recognize the importance of well 
 
 Equipment arranged dry sanitary lots for steer 
 
 feeding, nor do they realize the inti- 
 macy of the relation of conditions in the feedlot with the 
 
 Page Twenty-One 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 returns the steers are able to show. It is important 
 from the standpoint of greatest efficiency in cattle feed- 
 ing that not too many animals be confined in the same 
 lot. The balance point as to numbers is determined by 
 the rate at which the cattle gain and the increase in 
 costs due to equipment and greater amount of labor. 
 East of the Mississippi, the best results are obtained with 
 from 30 to 45 steers in a lot, while farther west as many 
 as 250 may be handled. The determining factors are 
 the cost of labor and land as compared to the gains of the 
 animals. The usual space required for steers has been 
 found by experience to run about qo to 100 square feet 
 per head, including shed covering which should allow 
 20 to 25 square feet each. Where feeding is to be con- 
 ducted over a period of time hard surface lots should be 
 maintained, the shed being open, burclosed to the north, 
 west and east. Concrete foundations prove most suit- 
 able, but are too expensive in many sections of the 
 country. Well packed crushed rock, brick or tile dust, 
 or other surfacing material may be used, the latter being 
 disadvantageous for cleaning although permitting the 
 cattle to keep out of the muck. Drainage for cattle lots 
 is perhaps most essential, as when the water runs off, 
 even dirt lots may be kept in fair condition. Feed racks 
 should have sufficient frontage to care for all of the 
 steers without crowding. This means that there should 
 be 2}4 to 3 feet front per steer. Some feeders have had 
 considerable success in using a combination feed rack 
 for grain and roughage as indicated in Fig. A in the 
 accompanying illustration, while others have a separate 
 trough for grain and silage with a rack for hay as shown 
 in Fig. B. The combination rack is a little cheaper to 
 construct, but the separate racks operate a little more 
 satisfactorily from the free choice basis for the steer, 
 since the animals have a better chance to balance indi- 
 vidually their grain against their roughage. Many steers 
 come gradually to have their respective places at the 
 
 Page Twenty-Two 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 trough, and although they do not consume all the grain, 
 they keep other steers away by remaining to eat silage 
 or hay. Feeding troughs should always be cleaned after 
 each feeding and kept scrupulously sweet. Salt should 
 always be available, as it promotes the animal's thrift 
 and increases his ability to consume feed. 
 
 The great change in feed prices dur- 
 Some Cattle ing the world war has to a certain 
 
 Rations extent invalidated the standard rations 
 
 proposed by the experiment stations, 
 and each state is now conducting investigations on the 
 growing and feeding of cattle with cheap feeds, feeds 
 that in smaller measure compete with human needs. 
 This has limited very markedly the use of grains, so the 
 following rations are composed of cheap and available 
 feeds in the sections of the United States suggested: 
 
 Page Tiventy-Three 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Section 
 
 Growing 
 
 Fattening 
 
 Bluegrass 
 
 Corn silage or 
 
 Corn silage 25-30 lbs. 
 
 
 Corn fodder 
 
 Clover or alfalfa hay 
 
 
 Stalk Fields 
 
 8-10 lbs. 
 
 # 
 
 Straw stacks 
 
 All corn steers will eat 
 
 
 .5 lbs. oilmeal or cotton- 
 
 Oilmeal or cottonseed 
 
 
 seed meal 
 
 Oilmeal or cottonseed 
 
 
 Bluegrass pasture 
 
 meal 1-2 lbs. 
 
 Southeast 
 
 Velvet bean fields 
 
 Corn silage 25-30 lbs. 
 
 
 Peanut hay in winter 
 
 Cottonseed meal 6-8 
 
 
 Cottonseed meal and 
 
 pounds or 
 
 
 hulls 
 
 Velvet bean meal and 
 
 
 Bermuda grass pasture 
 
 cornstalk meal mixed 
 all steers will eat 
 
 Central west 
 
 Corn silage or 
 
 Corn silage 25-30 lbs. 
 
 
 Corn fodder or 
 
 Alfalfa dry clover hay 
 
 
 Stalk fields 
 
 8-10 lbs. 
 
 
 Straw stacks 
 
 All corn steers will eat 
 
 
 Corn 3 to 6 lbs. in winter 
 
 Oilmeal or cottonseed 
 
 
 Oilmeal or cottonseed 
 
 meal 1.5-^5 lbs. 
 
 
 meal i to 2 lbs. 
 
 
 
 Bluegrass pasture 
 
 
 Northwest 
 
 Range 
 
 Damaged grains 
 
 
 Prairie or legume hay 
 
 Peafields 
 
 
 Straw stacks 
 
 Legume hay 
 
 
 Sunflower silage 
 
 Oilmeal 2-3 lbs. 
 
 
 Beet pulp where availa- 
 
 
 
 ble 
 
 
 Southwest 
 
 Range 
 
 Silage grain sorghum or 
 
 
 Prairie or alfalfa hay 
 
 corn 25-30 lbs. 
 
 
 Cottonseed meal in win- 
 
 Cottonseed cake 5-6 lbs. 
 
 
 ter 2-3 lbs. 
 
 Alfalfa or prairie hay 
 
 
 
 8-10 lbs. 
 
 It is possible in some districts of the blue-grass section 
 to substitute peanut meal and velvet bean meal for 
 cottonseed meal, especially on farms possessing suitable 
 grinders for this purpose. In the southeast section the 
 main reliance in growing steers must be placed on cotton- 
 seed meal and hulls; the velvet bean fields, the Bermuda 
 grass pasture and the peanut vine hay supplementing in 
 
 Page Twenty-Four 
 
A draft, beef and milk type of France, Simmenthal-Fribourgeois cross. 
 (Seepage 10.; 
 
 A beef and milk type, the champion Red Polled cow "Constant. 
 (Seepage 10.) 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 the periods when the cottonseed is not available. For fat- 
 tening, the meal produced by grinding the entire velvet 
 bean plant and the entire corn plant, gives a bulky and 
 nutritious feed which the steer can use profitably up to 
 the physical limits of its consumption. The northwest 
 presents two distinct problems, the range problem and 
 the small farm problem. The small farmer has a variety 
 of products available for cattle growing, but the, range 
 producer is limited to the grass of his acres and prairie hay, 
 silage or straw in the winter. 
 
 Success in growing cattle for market 
 Growing depends upon two things, the breed- 
 
 the Calf ing of the calf and the start in life 
 
 the calf receives. When calves are 
 intended for straight beef production only a small quan- 
 tity of feed in addition to milk is necessary up to weaning 
 time, but they should be taught to eat supplemental feeds 
 during this period to prevent a set back when milk no 
 longer is furnished. The amount of dry feeds consumed 
 will be limited at first but should be increased gradually 
 until the calf no longer needs milk when six to eight 
 months old. Calves intended for baby beef should begin 
 on grain when four to six months old, a mixture of equal 
 parts ground by weight of corn, oats, and wheat bran 
 is good to start with, and after the calves have become 
 accustomed to it, it may be fed whole. There is less 
 danger of digestive disturbance and scours when the 
 corn and oats are whole than when ground. The grain 
 allowance should be increased gradually so that weaning 
 time will not provide a set back to the calves. From 
 then on calves intended for baby beef should be kept on 
 full feed. The following rations may prove suitable to 
 different sections of the country: 
 
 Ration No. i 
 
 Corn lo lbs. 
 
 Cottonseed Meal i Ihs. 
 
 Page Twenty-Five 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Clover Hay 3 lbs. 
 
 Silage 12 lbs. 
 
 Oil meal and alfalfa may be substituted for cotton- 
 seed meal and clover, and calves may be allowed all 
 the straw they will eat. 
 
 Ration No. 2 
 
 Corn 6 lbs. 
 
 Cottonseed Meal 3 lbs. 
 
 Legume Hay 10 lbs. 
 
 Straw No limit 
 
 Ration No. 3 
 
 Kafir or Milo 12 lbs. 
 
 Cottonseed Meal 2>^ lbs. 
 
 Silage 12 lbs. 
 
 Ration No. 4 
 
 Barley or Broken Wheat 10 lbs. 
 
 Roots 10 lbs. 
 
 Alfalfa Hay 6 lbs. 
 
 Coarse Hay No limit 
 
 In the foregoing rations oil meal may always be sub- 
 stituted for cottonseed meal, barley or kafir for corn, 
 and any of the legume hays (alfalfa, clover, velvet bean, 
 cowpea, soybean, lespedeza or peanut vine) for any 
 other. It is important that the feed of the growing steer 
 calf contain plenty of protein and mineral matter, hence 
 such feeds as clover, alfalfa, and silage should be given 
 in abundance with some oats, and cottonseed or linseed 
 meal. Calves that are to be fed out as long yearlings or 
 two-year-olds, or to be sold as stockers at a year old, 
 may be fed quite largely the first winter on cheap rough- 
 ages but it pays to give small amounts of concentrates 
 in order to keep the calves growing in a thrifty condition. 
 
 It is highly important that calves be castrated when 
 young, usually at six to eight weeks of age, because there 
 is less danger of checking growth. The object of this is 
 to prevent reproduction, to increase the fattening pro- 
 pose Twenty-Six 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 pensity, to make the animal easier to handle, and to 
 improve the quality of the meat. One of the greatest 
 dangers to livestock improvement comes from permitting 
 calves with only one or two crosses of improved blood to 
 grow into bulls, thus replacing well bred bulls on farms 
 and ranches. In order to insure success in castration, 
 one must carefully wash and disinfect the hands and 
 instrument? before operating and the wound after opera- 
 tion, must make a large free opening to permit good 
 drainage and prevent pus accumulations in the wound 
 and must permit the calf plenty of exercise to keep the 
 swelling down. Calves turned to pasture immediately 
 after the operation recover more quickly than those 
 confined to the stable, since the chances of infection are 
 less. 
 
 If calves are to be turned off as veals it is not necessary 
 to castrate and they should be pushed along with skimmed 
 milk, flax-seed meal and such other feeds as they can 
 learn to consume, .until they are six to twelve weeks old 
 and fat enough to market. Great care must be taken to 
 see that the skimmed milk is sweet and not fed in dirty 
 receptacles, as the digestive system of the calf may be 
 deranged and scours or some other ailment result. Very 
 few calves of beef breeding are killed as veals, the majority 
 of such calves coming from milking herds. 
 
 There are certain general principles 
 
 The Advantage connected with the feeding of cattle 
 
 of Young that each farmer should bear in mind. 
 
 Cattle The younger the animal the cheaper 
 
 the gain. 
 
 The older the feeder the easier to fatten. 
 
 The older the cattle the greater the proportion of 
 roughage consumed. 
 
 The older the cattle the less the labor and shelter 
 required. 
 
 The greater the abundance of pasture and cheap feeds 
 and the more limited the fattening feeds, the greater 
 
 Page Twentv-Seven 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 the profit in marketing cattle as stockers and feeders. 
 
 Older cattle digest their feed less closely than young 
 cattle, and both digest whole grain less closely than 
 ground grain. 
 
 The more ^limited the feeding space and the greater 
 the supply o'f concentrates, the greater the opportunity 
 for hogs to follow cattle. 
 
 One pig weighing seventy to eighty pounds should be 
 allowed for three steers. 
 
 After all the big problem in feeding 
 Essentials of is to satisfy the requirements of the 
 
 a Complete animal, and a study of the require- 
 
 Ration ments is necessary in order to feed 
 
 scientifically and economically. Gen- 
 erally speaking the needs of the animal may be grouped 
 under four heads: Growth, energy, fattening, and health 
 regulation. Growth is dependent on the nitrogenous sub- 
 stances in the feed, and is supplied by such feeds as bran, 
 milk, cottonseed meal, linseed meal, gluten feed, cowpeas, 
 soybeans, alfalfa, and clover. Feeds which supply 
 energy consist mainly of carbohydrates and fats, and are 
 furnished by corn, barley, wheat, rye, prairie hay, straw, 
 fodders, silage, grass, etc. Fattening powers are furnished 
 by the same feeds as those that supply energy. At one 
 time it was supposed that a simple estimate of the amounts 
 of these feeds that would furnish a well balanced diet 
 was sufficient in order to have successful results in feed- 
 ing, but it is now known that there are certain ingredients 
 of the ration that have only a slight food value, bufthat 
 promote the utilization of the feed and the general health 
 of the animal. Foremost among these may be mentioned 
 mineral matter, such as salt, .lime, etc., which is known 
 to be essential to successful feeding, but there is another 
 class of substances known as vitamines found in certain 
 fats and proteins that promote the body processes in 
 much the same way that lubricating oil promotes the 
 
 Page Twenty-Eight 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 work of the tractor without contributing to the energy 
 that runs it. This is found in the hulls of cereals, 
 cottonseed, flaxseed, timothy, some roots and alfalfa 
 and clover hays. Corn is notoriously lacking in some 
 of these substances, and animals fed corn alone get the 
 "burned-out" appearance due to the lack of certain of 
 these essential compounds in the feeds. Except for 
 these health promoting substances however, one feed 
 in a certain class may be substituted for another, 
 according to cheapness in a given community, as bran 
 for linseed meal or cottonseed meal, and kafir for corn or 
 barley. Because of this possibility of substitution it 
 is important that the feeder should study feed values, 
 as only by such a system can he make a business-like 
 profit on his feeding operations. 
 
 One of the most important feeds 
 Silage from the standpoint of health pro- 
 
 motion is silage, which provides the 
 steer and growing animal with succulent green feed the 
 year around. While corn is pre-eminently the best silage 
 plant, kafir, sunflowers, cane, oats and peas, alfalfa, and 
 soybeans with oats make a very desirable product. 
 The principle involved in ensiling feeds is manifold: 
 in general fermentations change the sugars of the plant 
 to acids, and preserve the total food value more perfectly 
 than any other method of feed preservation. If there is a 
 shortage of starches and sugars as in alfalfa, peas and beans, 
 it must be made up by mixing corn, cane, oats, rye, or some 
 similar agent. Molasses has been used satisfactorily where 
 cheap enough, being sprinkled over the green legume as 
 it goes through the silage cutter.. The two most important 
 provisions in silage making are the presence of these 
 sugars and the exclusion of air. I f too much air is present, 
 the silage putrefies, hence one must be careful to tramp 
 such crops as oats very carefully in order to drive the air 
 from the hollow stems. There are six distinct advantages 
 from ensiling crops. The relative expense is low ($2.50 
 
 Page Twenty-Nine 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 to $7.50 a ton, depending on investment in silo and 
 machinery and labor conditions) , it can be made available 
 for any season of the year, less of the feed value is wasted, 
 it is eaten with practically no waste, the weather handi- 
 caps the making of silage less than putting the crop up 
 in any other form, it makes weeds available for feed if 
 mixed with the silage crop, and it can be stored in less 
 space than the same feed dry, in the ratio of 2 to 5 as 
 far as food value is concerned. 
 
 The requisites of a good silo are: 
 Requisites of 1 — airtight walls; 2 — cylindrical shape 
 a Good Silo (to prevent corners which fill improp- 
 
 erly) ; 3 — smooth, strong, perpendicular 
 walls (to prevent air pockets); and 4 — depth (to give 
 pressure on the mass of fermentling feed, to reduce the 
 percentage loss through fermentation of top layers before 
 they can be fed, and to reduce the loss of food nutrients, 
 which are greatest in upper part). Silos may be made of 
 staves, brick, hollow tile, concrete, stone or steel. Pit 
 silos with cement lining and concrete curb may be used 
 in arid and semi-arid climates, but the material used 
 anywhere for structure depends upon local conditions. 
 See illustration on page 32. 
 
 The diameter of a silo to be erected 
 Silo should be determined from the number 
 
 Capacities of animals to be fed, the idea being 
 
 to feed about two inches of silage off 
 the top to prevent spoilage. The minimum amount to be 
 fed daily, to attain this depth of feeding, is shown in the 
 following table, allowing twenty-five pounds per head : 
 
 Diameter of Silo 
 
 Minimum Amount of Silage 
 
 Number Head 
 
 10 feet 
 
 520 pounds 
 
 21 
 
 1 1 feet 
 
 625 pounds 
 
 ^5 
 
 12 feet 
 
 745 pounds 
 
 30 
 
 14 feet 
 
 1,015 pounds 
 
 41 
 
 16 feet 
 
 1,325 pounds 
 
 53 
 
 s Thirty 
 
 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Diameter of Silo 
 
 Minimum Amount of Silage 
 
 Number Head 
 
 1 8 feet 
 
 1 ,680 pounds 
 
 67 
 
 20 feet 
 
 2,075 pounds 
 
 83 
 
 12 feet 
 
 2,510 pounds 
 
 100 
 
 24 feet 
 
 2,985 pounds 
 
 iiq 
 
 26 feet 
 
 3,505 pounds 
 
 140 
 
 In order to determine the capacity of a silo, multiply 
 the number of cubic feet in the silo by 40 pounds, the 
 average weight of a cubic foot of silage. As a matter of 
 fact, this figure will vary according to the height of the 
 silage in the silo, and those interested in a really accurate 
 result can use the following average weights: 
 
 Weight at Given Depth 
 18.7 
 
 33-1 
 
 46.2 
 
 56.4 
 61 .0 
 The^ deeper the silage gets the more a cubic foot of 
 silage at that depth weighs and the heavier the average 
 of all the silage is. 
 
 
 Average Weight for 
 
 pth of Silage 
 
 Whole Depth 
 
 I -foot 
 
 18.7 
 
 lo-feet 
 
 26.1 
 
 20-feet 
 
 33-3 
 
 30-feet 
 
 39.6 
 
 36-feet 
 
 42.8 
 
 Page Thirty-One 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part V. 
 
 Management of the Beef Herd 
 
 There are three systems of handling 
 Three Types beef-bred herds in common usage in 
 
 of Cattle the United States. The straight beef 
 
 Farming system in which the steers are grown 
 
 out as cheaply as possible is adapted 
 to regions where pasture is plentiful and cheap and is 
 practiced more widely in United States than any other 
 method of beef production. The dual purpose system is 
 used more commonly in the general farming states 
 although up to the present it is not more popular than 
 the straight beef system if the numbers practicing it be 
 any criterion. In this system the cows are 'milked and 
 the calves are raised on skimmed milk and supplemental 
 feeds. The dual purpose calves as a rule are not as 
 economical beef producers as the straight beef calves 
 but when grown out and fattened they frequently make 
 very acceptable beef. The dual purpose system is com- 
 mendable only when adhered to properly, and is likely 
 to be quite unsuccessful if it is attempted to turn the 
 beef animals into a dairy herd. The baby beef system is 
 a highly specialized method and is adapted to such 
 districts as the cornbelt where there is a good supply 
 of feeds for fattening and sufficient pasture for the 
 summer maintenance of the breeding cows with their 
 calves. While it requires a little more equipment to 
 handle the herd the best market prices can be obtained 
 in baby beef as well as in the dual purpose systems, if 
 the calves are dropped in the fall and finished to market 
 in the summer and early fall. If calves are dropped in 
 the spring they should come late in February, March 
 or early April, but if they come in the fall, late August, 
 September and early October are preferable. The 
 
 Page Thirty-Two 
 
A tile sJlo representative 
 
 of one of the many types of per 
 adopted throughout the country. 
 

 
 I 
 
 iJ^ 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 question as to the better time can be settled only by a 
 study of individual farm conditions, taking into con- 
 sideration the equipment, labor, pasture and feed supply. 
 
 Cows raised for the production of 
 The Maintenance calves only, can be fed very cheaply 
 of the during the biggest portion of the year 
 
 Breeding Herd by using silage and dry roughages 
 combined with a small quantity of 
 such feed rich in protein as oilmeal or cottonseed meal. 
 If clover or alfalfa hay is available, these may be omitted 
 except during the periods immediately following calving 
 and for two weeks before breeding. Such cows do not 
 require anything more than open shelter except at calving 
 time, when they must be placed separate from the rest 
 of the herd. If fall calving is practiced little shelter 
 for the cow at parturition is* required, but if the calves 
 come in February, March and April, both dam and off- 
 spring must be sheltered from the extremes that some- 
 times occur at that season of the year. The purchase 
 of feeds for breeding cows should not be discouraged 
 when necessary, since a suitable purchase may be more 
 than repaid in the additional growth of the calf. Suc- 
 cessful cattle raisers must grow the necessary roughages 
 however, and for this part of the ration can well adopt 
 the slogan "Grow all you feed and feed all you grow." 
 In the summer the cow herd will be maintained largely on 
 pasture but if the pastures are short supplements must be 
 provided. Silage is the best agent for this but if not 
 available dry roughage such as hay or green forage crops 
 should be provided. After harvest, the cows can be 
 maintained for a time on the stubble and grass growth 
 in the fields, in fact some men plant clover or other crops 
 which will develop after harvest for this very purpose. 
 In the South, velvet beans may be utilized for the pasture 
 of fall and early winter while farther north the stalk fields 
 are available. In the winter hay and silage will provide 
 the main dependence but when protein feeds are nec- 
 
 Page Thirty-Three 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 essary from one to two pounds of linseed or cottonseed 
 cake may be fed. 
 
 The fundamental requirement for 
 The Pasture economical beef cattle production is 
 
 plentiful and permanent pasture. In 
 the cornbelt, bluegrass pasture has proved to be the 
 most satisfactory permanent proposition, but white 
 clover mixtures make a little richer feed of it. From a 
 temporary standpoint good returns may be obtained 
 from mixed timothy and red clover while in shaded areas 
 orchard grass and red top should be used. In the range 
 country native grasses have been found superior to 
 anything seeded, but care must be taken not to 
 overstock them or both variety and amount of herbage 
 are lost. Considerable success has been found in parts 
 of Kansas and Oklahoma by restricting the pasturage on 
 certain areas and seeding the remainder in order to renew 
 the growth. The farmer who feels that his pasture is 
 deserving of a little investment and care will find the 
 distribution of suitable fertilizers will promote the 
 growth of grass very decidedly. Advice as to the kind 
 of fertilizer or the amounts should be obtained from 
 the state experiment station or from the county agri- 
 cultural agent. In the South, Bermuda grass and les- 
 pedeza have been found highly resistant to drouth and 
 their use in southwestern states may possibly be extended. 
 The farmer must remember that while the grasses are 
 natural in most of the sections of America, they are 
 not spontaneous under heavy systems of pasturage, 
 and discing, seeding, and occasional fertilizing are 
 necessary to obtain the greatest returns. 
 
 Hay provides the winter substitute 
 The Contents of for pasturage on most farms. The 
 the Hay Stack successful farmer will calculate the 
 amount of hay he needs to carry his 
 cattle through the winter, allowing from ten to sixteen 
 pounds per head, per day, depending on the availability of 
 
 Page Thirty-Four 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 such other feeds as straw, corn stalks, and silage. In 
 order to calculate this it is desirable for him to Icnow 
 how to determine the number of tons of hay in the 
 stack. The ordinary method of determining this is first 
 to find the volume of the stack in cubic feet and then to 
 
 Peaked atack Average stack Fvai stack 
 
 IF HBICirr IS THREE-FOURTHS OF WIDTH. 
 
 IF HEIGHT EQUALS WIDTH. 
 
 New hay 
 190S 
 
 Old hay 
 1673 
 
 Hew hay 
 1714 
 
 Old hay 
 1529 
 
 IF HEIGHT IS OIJE-FOURTH GREATER THAN WIDTH. 
 
 N©* hay 
 17U 
 
 Old hay 
 1529 
 
 To determine contents of hay stack multiply length by 
 
 width by over and divide by the number indicated above 
 
 in order to obtain the number of tons. 
 
 Page Thirty-Five 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 transform it to tons. To determine this the farmer will 
 measure the width and length of the stack and then get 
 the distance from the ground on one side to the ground 
 on the other at a point which is about the average height 
 of the stack.- Having obtained these three figures for 
 width length and over, they are multiplied together and 
 divided by the figures shown in the accompanying diagram 
 depending on the shape of the stack and the length of 
 time the hay has been in the stack. The resultant 
 figure will give the number of tons of hay in the stack. 
 
 One of the most important factors 
 Sanitation on in success with beef cattle is the 
 the Farm health of the herd. The cheapest way 
 
 in the long run to safeguard the breed- 
 ing animals is by the prevention of disease and sanitation. 
 Every cattleman should provide himself with an isolation 
 shed and pen to which sick animals can be taken. This 
 will secure privacy and rest for the animals and in addi- 
 tion will limit the spread of contagious or infectious 
 disease. After a diseased animal has been removed from 
 this lot all straw and manure not exposed to the sunlight 
 and wind should be carefully burned and the shed 'and 
 feed troughs should be disinfected, either with lime or 
 a spray. Special care should be taken to provide bright, 
 clean, sanitary quarters for calving as a step taken in 
 time here may prevent serious losses later due to 
 hemorrhagic septicemia, scours, sore eyes, snuffles, and 
 various other calf diseases. Feed troughs, water tanks, 
 and other places where cattle commonly come in contact 
 with each other should be kept scrupulously clean and 
 should be disinfected frequently. 
 
 Page Thirty-Sir 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Some of the commonest diseases 
 Cattle \vhich American cattlemen have to 
 
 Diseases (ace are lump jaw, blackleg, contagious 
 
 abortion, foot and mouth disease, foot 
 rot, hemorrhagic septicemia and tuberculosis, while the 
 following are the commonest parasites which have to be 
 combated ; Texas fever tick, lice, screw worms, ox warble 
 and mange. 
 
 Lump Jaw. Lump jaw is a chronic non-infectious 
 disease that affects the jaws of cattle and the udders of 
 swine. It is caused by a fungus that is frequently found 
 on barley beards, oat stubble and various grasses, although 
 it does not grow outside of the animal body. It appears 
 as a hard tumor-like swelling on the jaw in the early 
 stages of the disease, but later becomes ulcerated from 
 the inside, causing slobbering and difficulty in chewing. 
 The animal becomes emaciated and frequently starves 
 to death. The most satisfactory way to handle the 
 animal is to begin fattening it at the first signs of disease 
 and ship to market before the affection becomes too 
 marked. Such animals are subjected to rigid examination 
 after death and if the disease is localized in the head the 
 animal is passed as fit for food. 
 
 Blackleg. This is a highly contagious disease that 
 affects cattle between the ages of six and twenty-four 
 months. It is usually fatal in the course of twelve to 
 thirty-six hours after the animal first shows signs of 
 sickness. However, the animal may have been infected 
 from three to five days previous to the first symptoms. 
 The animal shows a high fever, loss of appetite and great 
 depression, while it usually stops chewing its cud in the 
 very earliest stages. Swellings appear over the heavily 
 muscled parts of the body and if one strokes the skin in 
 these parts a distinct crackling is heard and felt. There 
 is no satisfactory remedy and the best method is preven- 
 
 Page Thirty-Seven 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 tive treatment by means of vaccination. The losses 
 following this are less than one-half of i percent. 
 
 Contagious Abortion. This is a chronic and highly 
 insidious disease that is confined to the organs of repro- 
 duction and is probably the most widely spread disease 
 in cattle. It is caused by a specific germ which is more 
 likely to infect heifers than cows and which seldom affects 
 the bull. During the early months after breeding the 
 animal appears normal but the calf may be born from 
 three to five months prematurely. Some cows may be- 
 come "carriers" of the disease without themselves being 
 sick. Skilled veterinarians are required to recognize 
 these animals by means of blood tests. The only treat- 
 ment possible is preventive. Immediately after the 
 animal aborts all of the litter should be disposed of by 
 burning and the stable floor should be disinfected with a 
 strong liquid. The cow should be douched with a i per- 
 cent solution of salt at blood temperature to prevent the 
 accumulation of pus. Some investigators at present urge 
 the use of a vaccine, but this has not yet been perfected. 
 
 Foot and Mouth Disease. Although this disease is 
 not common in America, there have been several serious 
 scourges from it, the last in the years 1Q14-15. It affects 
 cattle worse than other stock and the mortality ranges 
 from I to 3 percent. The disease opens with a moderate 
 fever and the appearance of blisters in the mouth and 
 between the hoofs. A profuse flow of saliva is stimulated 
 which hangs from the mouth in viscid ropes. No attempt 
 is made to treat the disease in the United States and 
 infected animals are immediately slaughtered. 
 
 Foot Rot. Cattle that are forced to stand in filthy 
 lots occasionally suffer from a contagious hoof disease 
 known as foot rot. The animals become lame, develop 
 a hot and painful swelling around the hoof and lose their 
 appetite and flesh. The "proud flesh" which appears 
 must be trimmed away, the pus tracts drained and a dis- 
 
 Page Thirty-Eight 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 infectant applied. In cattle the best remedy is pine tar 
 held in place by a bandage passed between the claws and 
 tied around the pastern. 
 
 Hemorrhagic Septicemia. This disease runs a short 
 course in cattle that frequently ends in death and affects 
 calves more commonly than older animals. The method 
 of infection is not known although cattle on pasture are 
 less likely to be affected than those under confinement. 
 The animals refuse feed, exhibit a severe fever, show 
 difficulty in breathing and develop swellings in the throat 
 and brisket. When the intestines are affected the animals 
 show signs of colic and pass bloody manure. Once the 
 disease is developed medicines are useless, hence efforts 
 are directed toward preventing the spread to other 
 animals. All unaffected animals should be removed to 
 fresh quarters and vaccinated, and the infected buildings 
 and lots disinfected. 
 
 Tuberculosis. This is one of the most serious diseases 
 affecting cattle because of the possibility of its transmis- 
 sion to man. It is readily transmitted to hogs following 
 cattle, in many cases as high as 25 percent being rendered 
 unfit for food. The disease is so named because small 
 tubercles form in the internal organs. Infection is 
 usually spread by eating food or drinking fluids con- 
 taminated by the discharges from infected animals. 
 Frequently animals severely afflicted with the disease 
 show no signs of it externally. If the lungs are affected 
 there may be a cough and difficulty in breathing, while 
 if the intestines are involved, a chronic diarrhea is present. 
 The two common tests for the presence of tuberculosis 
 are the injection test and the intradermal test with 
 tuberculin. In the first case the animal shows a marked 
 rise in temperature a few hours after injection if affected 
 with the disease, while in the second case a small hard 
 swelling develops at the point of inoculation within 
 twenty-four to ninety-six hours. Treatment is unsatis- 
 
 Page Thirty-Nine 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 factory and the only practicable method known is the 
 preventive one which removes all infected animals and 
 utilizes sanitary methods. 
 
 Texas Fever Tick. Only a few years ago this pest 
 was prevalent throughout the southern states, but is 
 being rapidly eradicated by means of the quarantine. 
 Its ill effects come through the injury to the cattle in 
 sucking their blood and infecting them with the germs 
 of a disease that results in high fever and occasionally 
 death. The vitality of most infected animals is so low 
 that they are not profitable to handle. The most suc- 
 cessful means of getting rid of the tick is by periodic 
 dipping. 
 
 Cattle Lice. These parasites do the most damage in 
 the winter months and are more likely to infect thin cattle 
 than fleshy ones. They can best be disposed of by dipping 
 in the fall before cold weather sets in, followed by a second 
 dipping seven to ten days later to kill any lice hatching 
 after the first treatment. 
 
 Screw Worms. During hot weather screw worms 
 may appear in wounds, cuts or sores, as a result of eggs 
 laid in these parts by a fly. The most effective treament 
 is to open the wounds, to wash them with gasoline, and to 
 daub them with pine tar. 
 
 Warbles. The ox warble is a grub which develops 
 under the skin in late winter or early spring, bores a hole 
 through it, and drops to the ground where it hatches into 
 a fly. There are no preventive measures known but the 
 grubs ready to drop from the animal should be squeezed 
 out and destroyed and those not quite ready to emerge 
 should be dislodged with a sharp knife. 
 
 Mange. Mange is caused by a small mite that attacks 
 the skin causing it to become scurfy. It spreads from 
 one animal to another by contact and can be remedied 
 by dipping or spraying. 
 
 Page Forty 
 
Tubercular cow apparently healthy in appearance which reacted to the tuberculin 
 test and was found diseased on killing. (See page 39.) 
 
 A steer showing a pronounced case of lump jaw. (See page 37.) 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Ring Worm. This disease is quite similar to mange 
 but causes circular patches on the skin instead of a general 
 infection. It is most common during the winter and 
 spring and is usually found on the heads and necks, 
 although it may affect any part of the body. It causes 
 severe itching and is remedied with iodine and nitrate 
 of mercury ointment. Stables should be disinfected. 
 
 As a general practice it is advisable 
 The Cow and to provide quarters for calving even 
 Her Calf though it may not be necessary to 
 
 use them ordinarily. The average 
 breeding cow needs little assistance if she is in a vigorous, 
 healthy condition, nor do most calves, but there are many 
 that die which would have lived if assistance had been 
 available at the proper time. As soon as the calf is born 
 all membranes should be removed from the mouth and 
 nose and if the calf is not strong, a slight pull on the tongue 
 and pressure in the ribs may stimulate breathing. The 
 cow should be allowed to dry the calf herself and to give 
 it its first care, although the calf may need assistance the 
 first time to find the udder. The calf should always 
 receive the first milk from the udder unless the cow is 
 feverish and her udder inflamed, since it acts as a mild 
 purgative. Clean, sanitary quarters are a distinct asset 
 to any breeding farm. 
 
 For convenience in determining the 
 Gestation time the cow is due to calve, the time 
 
 Table of service being known, a gestation 
 
 table is given on page 42, by the use of 
 which it is very easy to determine the approximate time 
 a cow will calve. It will assist in keeping accurate breed- 
 ing records. 
 
 Page Forty-One 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Gestation Table for Cows (283 Days) 
 
 Explanation- Find date cow was bred in first column and month bred in top 
 hne The date in column below opposite date bred will be the time at which 
 the cow is due to calve. 
 
 Jan. F^b. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec 
 
 Dayof 
 
 Mo'th 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 Mar. 
 
 Apr. 
 
 May 
 
 June 
 
 July 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Sepi-. 
 
 Bred 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 jj 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 II 
 
 10 
 
 u 
 
 ,1 
 
 II 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 q 
 
 12 
 
 1 1 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 1 1 
 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 
 n 
 
 I 3 
 
 1 J 
 
 1 1 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 1 1 
 
 14 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 14 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 12 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 lb 
 
 15 
 lb 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 1? 
 16 
 
 «4 
 15 
 
 16 
 17 
 18 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 15 
 16 
 
 IS 
 16 
 
 It 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 Vs 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 q 
 
 lO 
 
 IQ 
 
 iq 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 lb 
 
 iq 
 
 18 
 
 iq 
 
 iq 
 
 iq 
 
 iq 
 
 lO 
 
 20 
 
 18 
 
 18 
 
 17 
 
 20 
 
 iq 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 
 iq 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 iq 
 
 iq 
 
 18 
 
 21 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 IQ 
 
 22 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 
 n 
 
 14 
 
 i6 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 21 
 
 2 1 
 
 20 
 
 13 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 22 
 
 22 
 
 11 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 
 23 
 
 ^5 
 16 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 23 
 24 
 
 23 
 24 
 
 22 
 23 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 24 
 25 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 25 
 26 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 24 
 
 11 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 17 
 i8 
 
 ^7 
 18 
 
 17 
 18 
 
 ^5 
 
 2fc 
 
 ^5 
 26 
 
 24 
 25 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 26 
 27 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 27 
 
 28 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 27 
 28 
 
 IQ 
 
 iq 
 
 2Q 
 
 27 
 
 27 
 
 26 
 
 2q 
 
 28 
 
 2q 
 
 2q 
 
 2q 
 
 2q 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 27 
 
 30 
 
 2q 
 
 10 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 
 11 
 
 Nov. I 
 
 Dec.i 
 
 2 
 
 2q 
 30 
 
 2q 
 30 
 
 28 
 
 Mar. I 
 
 Apr. I 
 
 30 
 May I 
 
 June I 
 
 July I 
 
 2 
 
 31 
 Aug. I 
 
 Sept", 
 
 Oct. I 
 
 13 
 14 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 31 
 Ian. I 
 
 31 
 Feb. I 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 11 
 
 27 
 i8 
 
 30 
 31 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 q 
 10 
 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 e 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 q 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 q 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 
 q 
 10 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 q 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 q 
 10 
 
 4 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 
 8 
 q 
 10 
 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 q 
 
 5 
 6 
 7 
 8 
 q 
 10 
 
 Pti^e Forty-Two 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAiSING 
 Part VI 
 
 The Cattle Industry 
 
 As a producer of beef the United 
 The United States leads the world. On January 
 
 States Position i, 1920, there were 68,132,000 cattle 
 in Beef reported by the Bureau of Crop 
 
 Production Estimates, of which 44,385,000 were 
 
 beef animals. These exceeded the 
 nearest competitive beef country by over a third. For 
 iQiQ the relative figures on cattle, including milk and 
 draft animals as well as beef, were given as follows by 
 the Year Book of Figures of the Chicago Daily Drovers' 
 Journal : 
 
 India 147,335,000* 
 
 United States 67,866,000 
 
 Russia 52,052,000 
 
 Brazil 28,962,000 
 
 Argentina 25,867,000 
 
 Germany 20,317,000 
 
 France 12,1 8q,ooo 
 
 Canada 10,051,000 
 
 Australia 9,924,000 
 
 Uruguay 8,193,000 
 
 Not all of these countries are meat surplus countries, 
 however, as many of them consume more than they 
 produce. The nine principal meat export countries are 
 the United States, Argentina, Australia, Canada, New 
 Zealand, Uruguay, Mexico, Denmark and Paraguay. 
 Brazil is rapidly progressing in beef cattle production 
 and the day is not far off when she, too, will be a factor 
 in the world's beef markets. 
 
 •Includes buffaloes and millions of draft cattle. Proportion of beef cattle 
 relatively low. 
 
 Page Forty-Three 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 During the war America exportecf 
 The American large quantities of beef which per- 
 Beef Export mitted high prices to the producer. 
 
 Trade During the five years 1910-1914 the 
 
 average exports of beef products 
 totaled 71,717,597 pounds, while during the five years 
 of war, 1915-1919, the average exports were 385,612,976 
 pounds, an increase of approximately 538 percent. 
 America's principal customers for the last seven years 
 are indicated by the following table : 
 
 Country 1913 1Q14 iQi5 IQ'^ 
 
 United Kingdom.. 26,292,537 19,353,985 152.865,431199,583,322 
 
 France i53>430 67,542106,455,420 60,162,930 
 
 Italy 408,775 437,55^ 11,871,446 53,633,048 
 
 Netherlands 50,661,952 48,888,764 37,183,392 30,373,211 
 
 Scandinavia 15,850,056 15,677,189 34,389,858 36,275,700 
 
 Germany 23,809,562 19,572,376 1,393,312 850 
 
 Country 1917 1Q18 1919 
 
 United Kingdom. .205,616,173 390,033,935 347,932,906 
 
 France 58,672,952 68,800,838 53,152,973 
 
 Italy 14,019,782 17,634,774 65,045,368 
 
 Netherlands 14,040,591 329,694 
 
 Scandinavia 24,825,785 1,417,317 22,481,954 
 
 Germany 
 
 During times of peace the export 
 Relation of trade is a very minor factor in support- 
 
 Export Trade ing beef prices. In the past ten years 
 to Cattle we have exported the following per- 
 
 Production centage of our annual beef crop: 
 
 Total Beef 
 
 Production 
 
 1910 9,621,000,000 
 
 1911 9,398,000,000 
 
 19 1 2 8,997,000,000 
 
 191 3 8,559,000,000 
 
 1914 8,236,000,000 
 
 191 5 8,728,000,000 
 
 1916 10,224,000,000 
 
 1917 12,779,000,000 
 
 191 8 10,200,000,000 
 
 1919 9,050,000,000 
 
 Page Forty-Four 
 
 Total Beef 
 
 Percent Beef 
 
 Exports 
 
 Exported 
 
 127,405,575 
 
 1-3 + 
 
 93,618,984 
 
 I .0 — 
 
 64,378,658 
 
 0.7 + 
 
 40,059,655 
 
 0.5— 
 
 33.1^5,114 
 
 0.4+ 
 
 277,558,938 
 
 3.2— 
 
 320,132,447 
 
 31 + 
 
 322,766,893 
 
 2.5 + 
 
 521,844,093 
 
 5-2— 
 
 485,762,509 
 
 5-4— 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 The war increased the percentage of our beef exports 
 almost five times, the average for the first five years 
 quoted above being .8 percent, while for the last five 
 years it was 3.9 percent. The figures quoted above 
 are for the fiscal years closing June 30. They do not 
 include the period of the great drop in exports which 
 occurred during the last half of igiq. If one compares 
 the calendar years iqi8 and iqiq, one factor in the drop- 
 ping beef prices of that period becomes apparent, for 
 exports of 6qq,qq6,7i2 pounds in iqiS drop to ^ 46, ^47,8^2 
 pounds in iqiq. It is difficult to say just where the per- 
 centage of exports becomes large enough to be important, 
 economic and political conditions having greater effect 
 perhaps than any mathematical relation. 
 
 Page Forty-Five 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 move the beef on hand, and the competition of other 
 meats and foods for the favor of the family pocketbook. 
 Illustrations of factors causing general trends in prices 
 are the seasonal changes in the meat appetite of the 
 buying public, the seasonal variations in receipts, the 
 influence of the export trade, and such unusual occurrences 
 as the recent war. l^he most important factor of all of these 
 is the ability to sell beef and this is almost perfectly correlated 
 with the volume of beef on hand as related to volume of busi- 
 ness, and is entirely unrelated to the cost of production of 
 the cattle. 
 
 One of the chief factors contributing 
 Seasonal to low prices for the average feeder is 
 
 Variations the tendency for every cattleman to 
 
 in Price market his steers in the period Novem- 
 
 ber to April. The chart opposite 
 presents a study of the prices of native beef on the Chicago 
 market over a period of twenty years and shows that prices 
 for this class of cattle are above the average of the year 
 from April to mid-October, and below the average for the 
 remainder of the year. Of course there have been years 
 in which this was not true, but it represents the average 
 condition over this time. The deviations below the 
 average price for the year are greatest in January, Feb- 
 ruary, June, November and December, while the least 
 occurs in the period July to October. Furthermore, in 
 the November to May period, the monthly average 
 price runs nearer the bottom of the deviations from the 
 average annual price, while in the period May to October, 
 the monthly average runs nearer the top of the devia- 
 tions from the average annual price. This means that 
 the man who markets in the latter period not only gets 
 better prices for his stock, but that he is much more 
 likely to top the market, simply because the monthly 
 average tends to run nearer there. 
 
 Page Forty-Eight 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Because prices are higher at this 
 The Problem of time does not necessarily mean that 
 Marketing Beef the farmer feeder will get greater 
 in All Seasons profits. Beef production depends on 
 the annual cycle of the year, steers 
 fatten on the crops that mature during the year, but meat 
 is eaten on the daily cycle based on the frequency with 
 which man gets hungry. It therefore happens that the 
 bulk of the cattle come on the market in the months Sep- 
 tember to February, after they have eaten the crops of 
 the preceding season. Man's appetite runs throughout 
 the year, however, and if he is to be assured a supply of 
 meat at all times, someone must carry the cost of holding 
 either animals or meat over to the leaner m.onths. If the 
 animal is killed the market must absorb the cost of hand- 
 ling or storing ; if it is held over for better prices the feeder 
 must pay this cost in feed, equipment and maintenance. 
 It therefore becomes an individual problem for each farmer 
 to determine, whether the additional costs of carrying his 
 cattle over will be more than the rise in price he will 
 probably get. Few are competent to advise with him 
 except the men of his locality who are familiar with con- 
 ditions. Possibly the county agricultural agent can be 
 of service in this connection. 
 
 The two simplest ways of taking 
 Methods of advantage of the better markets in 
 
 Reaching the the seasons of lean supply are, first, 
 Most Favorable to buy half finished cattle that some 
 Markets other shipper has put on the market 
 
 and feed them for thirty to sixty days, 
 depending on condition, and, second, to handle the animals 
 by cheap maintenance and suitable farm equipment to 
 carry over into this favorable time. The first system is 
 best adapted to feeders who live close to a big livestock 
 market. At almost any time during the winter the 
 careful buyer can go on the market and watch for steers 
 selling at prices he can afford to consider for further 
 
 Page Forty-Nine 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 feeding. On the stockyards markets he will have to 
 compete for warmed-up cattle with packer and speculator 
 buyers to a greater extent than for the customary type 
 of feeders, but he will find certain days in every week 
 (not always the same day by any means), when there are 
 more of this type on the market than can be absorbed and 
 he can buy right. He may find it to his advantage to do 
 this twice in a winter rather than once, in order to get the 
 most economical use of his feed. He will need dry bot- 
 tomed feedlots, and protection from the north and west 
 in the more severe sections of the country, and he cannot 
 profitably depend on the steers doing much rustling of 
 their own, but must have facilities for bringing the steers' 
 feed to them. The other system depends on finishing 
 the steers on grass while it is still lush and requires silage 
 and in some sections, soiling crops (peas, oats, vetch, cane, 
 rye, etc.) as supplements. It adapts itself to baby beef 
 production as calves of one spring can be marketed in 
 July or August of the following year. Sufficient winter 
 shelter will be required for these calves to keep them from 
 using too much of their feed to provide heat. This system 
 of feeding and finishing will do well on high priced land, 
 but is of little value in the range and semi-range states 
 where the system of production is too extensive. 
 
 The relative effect of supply and 
 The Effect of demand on cattle prices on the hoof 
 Supply and is shown in the chart on page 4g. 
 
 Demand on The two upper curves are not on the 
 
 Hoof Prices same scale, one square on the curve 
 
 for market receipts representing 50,000 
 animals while one square for A.rmour's purchases repre- 
 sents only 4,000 animals. To make the curves directly 
 comparable the heights in the first curve should be multi- 
 plied 12.5 times. In the case of the two lower curves, 
 however, the general parallelism is quite marked. The 
 fluctuation of hoof prices is not as great as that in dressed 
 beef, because the price of byproducts does not vary with 
 
 Page Fifty 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 the price of beef but remains relatively constant. On 
 the other hand it will be observed that the purchases of 
 Armour and Company bear only an indirect relation to 
 the price of dressed beef. In general, purchases were low 
 when prices were high and vice versa, but there are 
 almost as many exceptions as illustrations. This is simply 
 another way of saying that prices went up when Armour 
 and Company did not have the beef to supply, while with 
 increased supplies, prices dropped. 
 
 If the points along the dressed beef curve and the live 
 cattle curve are compared for divergence in direction, 
 periods in which supply overrode demand to a slight 
 degree will be noted. In September, iqi/, and Septem- 
 ber, iqi8, dressed beef prices rose while hoof prices 
 dropped, but it will be noted that in each case the number 
 of cattle on the market materially increased— in the first 
 instance 65,000 head or 27.6 percent of the previous 
 month's receipts, and in the second instance, i55>ooo 
 head or 64.6 percent. On the other hand, in November, 
 iqi8, and July and August, iqiq, dressed beef prices 
 dropped while hoof prices rose. This was unquestionably 
 due to the fact that our purchases of the months preceding 
 each of these periods were extremely light, while each 
 preceded a period when the beef trade normally picks up, 
 in the first case for Christmas, and in the second for the 
 advent of cooler weather. 
 
 Page Fifty-One 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part VIII 
 
 The Beef Carcass 
 
 There are eight standard wholesale 
 The Relative cuts from the carcass; the round, the 
 Value of loin, the flank, the rib, the chuck, 
 
 Carcass Cuts the plate and the shank, as shown in 
 the illustration on page 56, and 
 the suet secured from the free fat of the animal. There 
 is a pronounced difference in the value of different car- 
 casses and in the value of the cuts produced from different 
 parts of the same carcass. The quality of the carcass is 
 dependent on the relative thickness of the lean meat, 
 its tenderness, the interspersion of fat among the muscle 
 fibers, the firmness of the flesh, the freedom from bruised 
 spots, the rich redness of the lean meat, and the clear white 
 of the sound firm fat. Carcasses poorly protected by fat 
 cannot stand handling in the fresh meat trade, while 
 carcasses too darkly red in the lean and too yellow in the 
 fat indicate age or finish on feeds that produce a more 
 perishable carcass. Two very important factors affecting 
 the value of the carcass are the lightness of the bone and 
 the relative proportion of the valuable cuts. When 
 beeves are handled in bulk, as in Armour and Company's 
 Dressed Beef Department, the average proportion of 
 the different cuts is usually figured for convenience in 
 pricing, but if the carcasses are sold to the retailer, the 
 proportion of valuable cuts is especially important. The 
 demand as reflected from the retailer is shown by the 
 different price per pound in the following table, in which 
 the carcasses are considered by the cwt., thereby show- 
 ing the percentages of the different cuts. The same price 
 is allowed for the cuts from both carcasses in order to 
 show the effect of the more valuable portions on the 
 profits. In practice carcasses showing as great differences 
 as recorded here would sell for different prices per pound 
 
 Page Fifty-Two 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Steer No. i Steer No. 2 
 
 Cuts — Price per lb. Wt. cut Value Wt. cut Value 
 
 cwt. cwt. 
 
 Round $0.22 24 $5.28 22 $4.84 
 
 Loin 34 18 6.12 16 5.44 
 
 Flank 11 35 -385 4 -44 
 
 Suet .145 35 -5075 4 -44 
 
 Rib 27 10 2.70 8 2.16 
 
 Chuck 12 25 3.00 27 3.24 
 
 Plate 10 13 1-30 14 I 40 
 
 Shank q5 3 -^85 5 .475 
 
 Total $iq.5775 $18,575 
 
 In other words, on each hundred pounds bought in the 
 proportions listed above, steers like No. i, would be worth 
 $1.00 more than steers like No. 2, even though their meat 
 was of exactly similar grade. On a 650-pound carcass, 
 this difference would be $6.50. 
 
 It is very seldom that two steers 
 Factors in showing the difference in proportion 
 
 Carcass Values of cuts cited in the foregoing would 
 produce meat of similar value, but 
 one carcass would be of lesser quality than the other. 
 During the winter iqiQ-20 it frequently happened 
 that the highest quality beef sold around 23 cents a pound 
 wholesale, while good quality stuff was bringing about 
 18.5 cents. Two carcasses cutting up similar to those 
 discussed in the foregoing paragraph would yield whole- 
 sale cuts as follows: 
 
 Steer No. i Steer No. 2 
 
 Cut Per- Price Value Per- Price Value 
 
 cent per lb. cent per lb. 
 
 Round 24 $0.20 $4.80 22 $0.18 $396 
 
 Loin 18 .46 8.28 16 .3Q ^-^4 
 
 Flank 3.5 .08 .28 4 -oS -3^ 
 
 Suet 3.5 .16 .^6 4 -i^ -^4 
 
 Rib 10 .36 3.60 8 .30 2.40 
 
 Chuck 25 .16 400 27 .12 3-^4 
 
 Plate 13 .10 1.30 14 -OQ i-io 
 
 Shank 3 -o? -^i 5 -o? -3^ 
 
 Total $23.03 $18.41 
 
 Page Fifty-Three 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 In this case two differences of importance exist between 
 the two steers, percentage of valuable cuts and quality of 
 cuts. The difference is expressed as $462 per hundred, 
 or $27.72 on a 600-pound carcass. Retail stores will 
 take the cargass of the first steer at an advanced price 
 because the retailer can make more from it himself, and 
 because he can dispose of it to a better class of trade. 
 The next paragraph shows how these differences are 
 reflected to the producer. 
 
 The following actual cases taken 
 The Relation of from animals killed in May, iqio, 
 Carcass Price to by Armour and Company show how 
 Hoof Price the demand for different classes of 
 
 meat is transformed into the value of 
 steers on foot. Only animals of superior breeding and 
 proper finish can make the class of beef represented by 
 carcass No. i, and the majority of them weigh from 1250 
 pounds up, although there is- no reason why animals of 
 this quality cannot be produced in the cornbelt at 950 
 pounds for example, when fed from birth. The second 
 class of steer comes more usually from range stock. In 
 the particular instances here quoted, the steers purchased 
 by our buyers to meet the 2 1 cent trade demand weighed 
 1400 pounds, while the others weighed 11 10 pounds. 
 The data for steers of each class at this time is shown in 
 the following table: 
 
 Steer No. i Steer No. 2 
 
 Carcass, price $0.21 $0,185 
 
 Carcass weight 840 lbs. 610 lbs. 
 
 Value carcass $ 1 76 . 40 $ 1 1 2 . 85 
 
 Credits— Hides, offal, etc 40.58 31 -41 
 
 Killing and overhead 10.50 8.32 
 
 Net credits 206 . 48 ^'^^ \^ 
 
 Live weight 1400 lbs. 1 1 10 lbs. 
 
 Possible hoof price per cwt $i4-75 $12.25 
 
 The actual prices paid were $14.80 and $12.20. From 
 long experience the Dressed Beef Department can figure 
 what it can afford to pay for steers or heifers of any type 
 
 Page Fifty- Four 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 and weight in order to produce a particular grade or class 
 of beef, the costs being known in terms of averages, and 
 the corrected costs being made for each lot in terms of 
 the actual record of the animals purchased. The figures 
 shown in the preceding table represent corrected costs 
 and not averages used for preliminary estimates. Each 
 morning the Armour cattle buyers are furnished with a 
 statement of the costs of the beef from the animals they 
 purchased the day before, as well as the actual dressing 
 percentage. The principal factor involved in the judg- 
 ment of the buyer is the ability to estimate the dressing 
 percentage closely, and after years of experience the best 
 buyers become unbelievably accurate. But more than 
 an estimate of the dressing quality is needed, as the buyer 
 must be able to recognize the type of animal that will 
 produce the kind of beef which the Dressed Beef De- 
 partment needs to fill its orders or its shortages. 
 
 Page Fifty-Five 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 Part IX 
 
 Market Classes of Cattle 
 
 Cattle are placed in classes according 
 How Cattle to the use to which they are put, while 
 
 Are Classified they are graded according to their 
 merit in fulfilling this purpose. The 
 three major classes are beef cattle, butcher stock, and feeders 
 and stackers. Beef cattle produce carcasses suitable for 
 the wholesale trade, of the better grades, Nos. i or 2, 
 and of standard quality. Butcher stock produces either 
 an inferior grade of carcass, or else only partially produces 
 marketable cuts. Feeders and stockers are animals that 
 must be developed further before being slaughtered, 
 feeders being ready to go into the feed lot at once, and 
 stockers being too thin or too small to fatten until they 
 have been further developed on cheap feeds. Each of 
 these classes has a certain number of sub-classes, although 
 there is no rigid distinction between them, the daily condi- 
 tion of supply and demand materially affecting the classi- 
 fication. For example light-necked, thin stags on one 
 day's market may be slaughtered as a common grade of 
 stag, while another day they may be sent back to the 
 country as feeders, depending on the relative need for 
 butcher stock or feeders The principal classes and sub- 
 classes are indicated in the following outline: 
 
 fBeef Steers 
 I Yearling Steers 
 Beef Cattle j Yearling Heifers 
 I Heavy Heifers 
 [Stags 
 
 Page Fifty-Six 
 
Wholesale cuts of the beef carcass. 
 
No. 3 round. 
 
 No. 1 round. 
 
 Note the fuller shape of the No. 1 round and the better marbling of fat with lean. Also 
 the surface of the No. 1 round is velvety and dry as compared with the darker wetter 
 surface of the No. 3 round. 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Butcher Stock 
 
 Cows 
 
 Bulls 
 
 Veals 
 
 Feeders and Stockers ■ 
 
 Kosher 
 
 Butcher 
 
 Cutter 
 
 Canner 
 
 Butcher 
 
 Bologna 
 
 Selected 
 
 Medium 
 
 Heavy 
 
 Feeder Steers 
 Yearling Steers 
 Yearling Heifers 
 Feeder Cows 
 Feeder Bulls 
 Springer Cows 
 Springer Heifers 
 Stocker Steers 
 Stocker Heifers 
 
 Obviously not all of the animals 
 How Cattle that are placed in a particular class 
 
 Are Graded on a given day are equally suited to 
 
 meet the requirements of that class. 
 Hence they are graded according to their ability to realize 
 these requirements. The standard grades are prime, 
 choice, good, medium, fair, plain, common and poor. 
 Prime animals are fully finished and of improved type. 
 Choice animals are practically as good in type, but are 
 not so perfectly finished. Good animals are not as 
 desirable as prime, either in condition or type. Medium 
 steers are practically of the same quality as good, but not 
 their equal in condition, while fair steers fall below 
 medium in quality, type and condition. Both medium 
 and fair steers are quite numerous on the market, nearly 
 50 percent of steers falling in these two grades. Plain 
 steers are deficient in type and quality, but carry some 
 'flesh, while common steers lack flesh to a greater extent. 
 Poor steers are typical of their name, inferior in practically 
 all respects. 
 
 Page Fifty-Seven 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Characteristics of The following general description 
 Different Grades of each of the grades of cattle will be 
 and Classes of found applicable on the average to 
 cattle on the spring Chicago markets 
 
 of IQ20: 
 
 Beef Cattle and 
 Butcher Stock 
 
 Grade Weight Condition 
 
 Prime Beef Steers . . . 1 500- 1 600 Ripe 
 
 Choice Beef Steers. . 1 250-1450 Good 
 
 Good Beef Steers . . . 1 250-1450 Good 
 
 Medium Beef Steers . 1 200- 1 400 Average 
 
 Fair Beef Steers 1050-1 250 Average 
 
 Plain Beef Steers. . . . looo-i 1 50 Fair 
 
 Common Beef Steers qoo-1050 Light 
 
 Poor Beef Steers 800- 950 
 
 None 
 
 Type 
 Excellent 
 Excellent 
 Good 
 Average 
 Average 
 Deficient quality 
 
 and form 
 Few signs of good 
 
 breeding 
 Very inferior 
 
 While the other classes and sub-classes vary in weights 
 from those quoted above, the general statements as to 
 type and condition hold good throughout. In some cases 
 a few of the grades are omitted or new grades are created 
 to meet special conditions in a particular class of stock. 
 The following table shows the grades applied to the other 
 
 classes : 
 
 Class Grades 
 
 Yearling Steers Prime, Choice, Good, Medium, Fair. Plain, 
 
 Common. 
 
 Yearling Heifers Extra Fancy, Fancy, Prime, Choice. Good, 
 
 Medium, Fair, Plain, Common. 
 
 Heavy Heifers Extra Fancy, Fancy, Prime, Choice, Good, 
 
 Medium, Fair, Plain, Common. 
 
 Stags Choice, Good, Medium, Plain, Common, 
 
 Light, Thin. 
 fKosher — Prime, Choice, Good. 
 J Butcher— Choice, Good, Fair, Plain. 
 
 [Cutter — Good, Fair, Plain. 
 
 [Canner— Good, Fair, Plain, Common, Poor, 
 
 {Butcher — Prime, Choice, Good, Medium, 
 Plain. 
 Bologna— Choice, Good, Medium, Plain, 
 c5)mmon. Light. 
 Selected — Prime, Choice. 
 
 Medium— Choice, Good, Fair, Poor. 
 
 Heavy—Choice, Good, Fair, Poor. 
 
 Page Fifty-Eight 
 
 Cows, 
 
 Bulls 
 
 Veals. 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Extra fancy heifers are females showing very light 
 development in the essentially feminine characters; that 
 is, they are trimmer of middle and smoother through the 
 hooks and rump than usual, being prime in other par- 
 ticulars. They usually are very well bred and extremely 
 uniform. Fancy heifers are similar to extra fancv except 
 that they are slightly less uniform, and usually a little 
 lighter. 
 
 Kosher cows are of good size, and well enough finished 
 to make a thick forequarter for the Jewish trade. The 
 quarter is cut off behind the fifth rib, and thickness of 
 meat is essential in order to produce the requirements. 
 
 Light thin stags are animals that border between 
 feeders and canners. Their name is indicative of their 
 type and quality. 
 
 Prime selected veal calves weigh from 135 to 165 pounds 
 and are fat. Medium weight veals run from no to 150 
 pounds, the better grades being heavier, and the poor to 
 fair veals average from 1 10 to 125 pounds. Heavy veals 
 weight 200 to 350 pounds, the plain skim milk calves in 
 this class ranging from 200 to 300 pounds. 
 
 Feeders and stockers are graded in a 
 Grades and manner similar to finished cattle, but 
 
 Classes of the determining factors are based on 
 
 Feeders and their ability to gain rather than their 
 
 Stackers ability to kill. Feeder steers have the 
 
 following classification : 
 
 Grade Weight Breeding Type 
 
 Fancy selected.. 1 000- 1 150 Nearly pure beef 
 
 blood Uniform, beefy 
 
 Choice 1000 High in beef blood Beefy 
 
 Good Qoo One or two crosses 
 
 pure bulls Above average 
 
 Medium 850- qoo Mixed Below average 
 
 Fair 800- 850 Some cold blood 
 
 evident Rougher, plainer 
 
 Page Fifty-Nine 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Other classes of feeders and stockers grade as shown 
 in the next table, their differences between grades approxi- 
 mating that shown in the foregoing. 
 
 Class * Grades Weights 
 
 Yearling steers. . .Choice, good, fair, common 500-^50 
 
 Stocker steers.... Fancy selected, choice, good, fair, 
 
 common boo-800 
 
 Feeding heifers . .Yearlings, choice, good, fair, range 600-800 
 
 Feeding cows. . . .Choice, good, fair, plain 650-850 
 
 Springer cows. . . . Good, fair 750-qoo 
 
 Springer heifers. . Good, fair 700-800 
 
 'Feeder bulls Choice, good, fair 800-1 100 
 
 In the spring of 1920 feeder steers brought about 25 
 to 50 cents per cwt. more in the corresponding grades than 
 yearlings, due to their ability to finish faster, while stock- 
 ers sold about a dollar lower than feeders. Heifers in 
 corresponding grades, brought from 75 cents to a dollar 
 more than cows, while feeder bulls were generally listed 
 about 25 cents above feeder cows. 
 
 In the early days of the cattle industry, feeder and 
 stocker values were set by subtracting the cost of feeding 
 from finished cattle, but as the demand for dressed beef 
 raised the prices of unfinished animals, the margin on 
 which the feeder operates no longer has any relation to 
 the cost of finishing, but is determined by the value of 
 the unfed animal for killing purposes. The feeder 
 buyer frequently finds competition on the highest type of 
 feeder cattle because a limited sale demand exists for just 
 such cuts as the raw feeder produces. The fact that a 
 certain percentage of this type of animals can be used 
 for beef, particularly in the face of market scarcity, has 
 led to a competition with feeder buyers, that has been 
 difficult for them to understand. Many have interpreted 
 this competition to mean that finished cattle are no 
 longer desired, but this is by no means true, since the 
 market can handle only a limited portion of unfinished 
 cattle of this character. 
 
 Page Sixty 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Part X 
 
 Cattle Types 
 
 While finished cattle are classed 
 How Type Is and graded on the market as indicated 
 Determined in the foregoing paragraphs, there are 
 
 distinct differences in type between 
 choice feeders and choice killing steers. The factors that 
 determine whether an animal shall be classed as a beef 
 steer and graded choice include high dressing percent, 
 high proportion of valuable cuts, ability to produce a 
 No. I carcass and a size suitable to produce retail cuts 
 most readily marketable. The price paid for live animals 
 is based on these points entirely. On the other hand when 
 a feeder buys a steer he is looking for the points that will 
 indicate profitable utilization of his feed. A steer of this 
 sort has a large rugged frame, a strong chest and constitu- 
 tion, enough depth to indicate a strong feeding capacity, 
 and a loose, mellow, sappy hide that provides a vigorous 
 circulation and a high degree of health. It will be noted 
 that none of the points making the animal profitable as a 
 feeder have any relation to the efficiency with which the 
 steer cuts out, hence the type suitable both to the trade 
 and the feeder is a compromise. This is the type which 
 has come to recognition in the big fat stock shows of 
 England and America, and in its ultimate development 
 provides the show yard champions. The usual champion 
 steer is fed to a flesh unprofitable to the feeder from a 
 market standpoint, since the final gains of such an animal 
 are very costly and there is ordinarily too much fat to 
 permit the animal to be cut up profitably by the butcher. 
 It therefore happens that many times steers gaining 
 high honors in a show are considered less valuable by 
 practical feeders and sell for less on the beef markets than 
 animals of lower show rank. 
 
 Page Sixty-One 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Nevertheless in the long run this 
 Characteristics compromise type of steer (see page 41 ) 
 of the Standard is the one that gives best returns at all 
 Types of Beef stages of his development. Such an 
 Steer animal as viewed from the side should 
 
 be straight in top and underline, deep, 
 low-set, stylish in carriage, symmetrical in all parts, and 
 possessed of a smooth, thick, meaty appearance. From 
 the rear he should be wide throughout and even; smooth 
 through the shoulders, hook points and rump; and 
 deep and thick in thigh, lower round and twist. From 
 the front he should show a pronounced breadth from 
 shoulder top down through the breast, his neck and 
 shoulder vein should be plump with fat, his head short, 
 broad and well-dished, and his legs set well apart. Such 
 a steer will carry thick cuts in the valuable parts and be 
 proportionate between his carcass and the internal organs 
 that provide his meat making machinery. He should be 
 thick, smooth and mellow to the touch in all parts of his 
 body, and as refined in bone, skin and hair as possible 
 without reducing his ruggedness or vigor. Since beef 
 cattle sell by the pound a big steer at a given age is always 
 preferable to a smaller one of the same general merit. 
 
 The fat cattle buyer must not only 
 Dressing determine what kind of carcass the 
 
 Percent animal he buys will produce, but he 
 
 must also determine what the steer 
 will yield, in terms of carcass to live weight. This is 
 known as the dressing percentage and depends on the 
 condition, the freedom from paunchiness, the type and 
 the quality. Fat steers always outdress animals of less 
 finish, the degree of their condition being judged in 
 accurate detail by the filling of the tongue root, brisket, 
 shoulder vein, fiank and twist, in addition to the general 
 covering over the body. The fill of the digestive organs 
 with feed and water is as important as the condition. 
 In shipping, steers of 1200 pound weight frequently 
 
 Page Sixty-Two 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 shrink 40 to 60 pounds, due to the emptying of the diges- 
 tive tract, which is 3 to 5 percent of the entire weight 
 of the animal. A difference in estimate of i percent 
 dress on a 1200 pound steer selling at 15 cents a pound 
 is $1.80, and many mistakes of that sort reduce to zero 
 the usefulness of a buyer. The broad thick type of steer 
 will outdress the steer of wedge-shaped dairy type even 
 when condition and fill are the same, by 3 to 5 percent, 
 while quality in hide, head and bone may affect the 
 dressing ratio by i to 2 percent. 
 
 The average run of steers killed by Armour and Com- 
 pany dress, about 53 percent, good to choice ranging 
 from 56 to ^q, and steers of extra good show type, going 
 from 5Q to 63. The champion steer at the 1920 Fort 
 Worth show was killed by Armour and Company and 
 dressed 67.48 percent. The world's record is on a 
 spayed heifer killed at the Smithfield Fat Stock Show in 
 London, that made 76.75 percent. Fat cows dress about 
 56 per cent, and canners from 35 to 43 percent. 
 
 Page Sixty-Three 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Part XI 
 
 Marketing Cattle 
 
 Much of the profit that may have 
 Preparations for been acquired during the feeding 
 Shipping operation may be lost when the 
 
 animals are sent to market. Faulty 
 shipping methods may cause such a great difference in 
 the loading weight of the steer at home and its selling 
 weight at the market that the feeder may actually make 
 or break on this margin. This shrink" is caused by the 
 failure of the animal to eat and drink the normal amount, 
 and by scouring. Long hauls, rough handling, improper 
 feeding, extreme weather, exhaustion and numerous minor 
 factors affect the amount of shrink and nothing will 
 eliminate it entirely. It averages about 4.0 percent of 
 the animal's weight. Grass, silage and pulp- fed cattle 
 shrink more than grain fed, while such grades as canner 
 cows shrink more proportionately than finished stock. If 
 about two days before shipping a less washy ration is 
 substituted for the regular ration, the shrink may not 
 be so great, although if the change is too sudden the 
 animal may be upset. On the other hand, too dry a 
 ration works a severe detriment to the selling condition 
 of the cattle. To withhold water before shipping and to 
 feed salt is cruel and deceives no one except the shipper 
 himself. A normal fill is always accepted but both 
 packer buyers and feeder buyers can easily recognize 
 animals in abnormal condition. 
 
 ^- . . The following suggestions issued by 
 
 ^nipping ^-j^g National Livestock Exchange 
 
 Counsel should prove helpful : 
 
 Always route your shipment through to destination 
 and designate each road handling it. 
 
 Page Sixty-Four. - 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Always carefully insert the number and kind of each 
 species of stock loaded. 
 
 Always see that car order information is inserted when 
 the car furnished differs from the car ordered. 
 
 Always insert the words "ordinary live stock" in the 
 description of stock except that "chiefly valuable for 
 breeding, racing, show purposes or other special uses." 
 
 Always insert in the proper space the rate which you 
 understand is to be applied. If the rate and route con- 
 flict it is the agent's duty to so inform you. 
 
 Always give specific instructions as to the place of 
 feeding enroute, indicating the kind and quantity of feed 
 to be furnished. 
 
 Always release your shipment to the 36-hour limit 
 unless, in your opinion, the 28-hour limit should be 
 observed. 
 
 Always declare the full value of other than "ordinary 
 live stock," otherwise you cannot recover more than the 
 declared value in case of loss. 
 
 Never accept a contract where the carrier's agent seeks 
 to limit the liability of the carrier. 
 
 Never declare the value of "ordinary live stock." The 
 agent cannot lawfully require this of you. 
 
 Never pay a rate on "ordinary live stock" dependent 
 upon the declared value. If it has been paid file a claim 
 to recover the overcharge. 
 
 Never let the railroad agent route your shipment 
 against your own preference. The law gives this right 
 to you exclusively. 
 
 Never send an attendant unless he is an experienced 
 livestock man. The responsibilities are too great to 
 risk amateurs. 
 
 Page Sixty-Five 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 Never pay loading or unloading charges at public 
 markets nor at intermediate feeding stations, except when 
 you order the stock fed there. The law imposes upon the 
 carrier the duty of performing this service. 
 
 Always order your car right and in ample time. 
 
 Always protect your rights in cases where cars are 
 substituted. 
 
 Always bed your car properly. 
 
 Always mark your livestock legibly for identification. 
 
 Always partition different kinds of livestock and tie 
 dangerous animals. 
 
 Always check your railroad billing weight against sale 
 weights to avoid overpayment. 
 
 Always pay no more nor no less than the full lawful 
 charge. 
 
 The center of consumption of beef 
 Handling Cattle in the United States averages approxi- 
 at the Market mately iioo miles distant from the 
 center of production. As a result of 
 this, a complex but very efficient marketing system has 
 been developed. Cattle shipped to central markets are 
 handled by the trunk railroad, the terminal railroad at 
 the market, the stock yards company and the commission 
 firm before they are manufactured into meat and other 
 products, while the meat passes through the wholesale 
 markets, either directly into the hands of the retailer, 
 or through the intermediate hands of the jobber. Yet, 
 so efficiently is this done in most cases that the retailer 
 can purchase meat more cheaply that has gone through 
 all of these hands and has traveled all of these miles, than 
 he can butcher the animal and sell the meat therefrom 
 himself. Furthermore, by so doing he is insured against 
 disease and can have a greater variety of meats to suit 
 the public taste. The terminal railroad receives the cars 
 
 Page Sixty-Six 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 from the main line, spots them at the chutes for loading 
 and unloading, returns them to the transfer tracks and 
 receives its return by payment of so much per car. The 
 stock yards company receives the cattle from the railroad 
 at the unloading chute, counts them, and delivers them 
 to the commission firm at their pens. This company does 
 all the weighing, counts the shipments in the cars and 
 records the entire transaction from unloading to selling. 
 For this, it receives yardage fee. It also furnishes the 
 feed to the shipper for which he must pay. The com- 
 mission firm acts as the selling agent to the shipper. It 
 rents blocks of pens from the yard company and engages 
 in selling or buying the cattle of the shipper. In order 
 to do this, the commission men must know accurately, 
 both cattle and the market, and follow its changes from 
 day to day. Practically no shippers are frequent enough 
 visitors to the market to be able to place as accurate a 
 value on their property as the commission salesman. The 
 commission firm is the final link in the establishment of a 
 cash market since it provides credit for each individual 
 shipper, who is probably unknown to the stockyards 
 company and prepares for him the bill of sale, deducts 
 charges and prepares the check for the shipper often 
 before he has received his own money from the buyer. 
 
 Cattle bought by Armour and Com- 
 Slaughtering pany for slaughter are driven across 
 Cattle to their holding pens. From here they 
 
 are driven up a long chute or incline 
 to the killing beds on the top floor of the plant. Here 
 they pass into a long line of knocking pens, two to each 
 pen, and are there dispatched with a heavy blow of the 
 sledge. They are then hoisted by the hind legs for 
 sticking, the blood being caught in buckets for use in 
 further manufacture of byproducts, feed and fertilizer. 
 The heads are skinned out, washed and prepared for the 
 Government inspector. The carcass of each individual 
 animal holds its place in rotation throughout the entire 
 
 Page Sixty-Seven 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 operation, all parts cut from it being kept in the same 
 order until the Government inspector has finally passed 
 it. Armour and Company is very proud of the rigid and 
 efficient inspecting force from the Bureau of Animal 
 Industry which supervises the killing and meat prepara- 
 tion in its plants. After the heads have been removed 
 the cattle are moved out from the sticking rail and are 
 laid down on the floor with the feet in the air. The fore 
 and hind legs are skinned out and unjointed at the knee 
 and hock. The legs are sent down another chute to be 
 made into combs, knife handles and glue. The hide is 
 then opened down the center of the belly and skinned off 
 the sides by a set of very expert workmen who with one 
 stroke turn back the hide from the belly to the floor. The 
 cattle are then hooked through the hocks and partially 
 raised from the floor, the middles opened, the entrails 
 removed, placed in a sterilized moving pan and inspected. 
 While this is going on other men skin out the rump and 
 pull the hide free from the round. Extreme care is needed 
 in working here as the hide from the rump makes the very 
 best grade of leather, and any cuts cause serious loss. The 
 tails are skinned out and started on the road to the soup 
 factory. The carcass is then raised completely, the hide 
 removed from the back and "hide droppers" follow to 
 remove the skin entirely from the legs and shoulders. 
 The carcass is now split through the center of the back 
 bone from tail to neck by means of long cleavers and so 
 accurate is the work that jagged cuts and bone splinters 
 are very rare. The split carcass passes on a moving 
 trolley, is given a thorough scrubbing with warm water 
 and brushes, wiped' dry and sent white and clean to the 
 last Government inspector. If no disease has been found 
 in any part of the animal it is stamped, "U. S. Inspected 
 and Passed," and sent to the coolers. If infection is 
 found the carcass is switched onto the Government rail 
 and a thorough examination made. Condemned meat 
 is so stamped and kept under Government lock until 
 
 Page Sixty-Eight 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 put in the tank for inedible grease and other by-products. 
 U. S. inspected meat is always safe meat. The Chicago 
 packing plant of Armour and Company can handle i So 
 cattle at a time, the entire operation from knocking to 
 final inspection taking about an hour. The beef hangs 
 in a temperature of about 34 degrees Fahrenheit for at 
 least 48 hours and is then quartered or cut up otherwise, 
 loaded into the refrigerator car and sent to the branch 
 house for sale to the retailer. Fresh beef is perishable 
 and its handling demands a continuous attention to tem- 
 perature and a maximum of speed in distribution. 
 
 When cattle killing first became a 
 Byproducts centralized business there were only 
 
 two standard products from the animal 
 marketed, the beef and the hide. Due to the utilization 
 of the byproducts in the modern packing plant, both 
 the dressed meat and the hide bring less than the animal 
 cost on foot, enabling the packer to shave to the lowest 
 degree, 'the margin between buying and selling price on 
 the cattle he buys and their products. A representative 
 condition on falling markets is shown in the following 
 steer, purchased by Armour and Company in May, iqio: 
 
 Purchase price, 1,400 pound steer $207 .20 
 
 Selling price (wholesale) 840 pound carcass .... $ 1 76 . 40 
 
 Selling price, hide 28 . 10 
 
 Killing and overhead costs 10 . 50 
 
 Credits for raw byproducts 1 2 . 48 
 
 Loss on steer -7^ 
 
 Total $2 1 7 . 70 $2 1 7 . 70 
 
 If it were not for the byproducts the loss on this steer 
 would have been $13.20. Armour and Company do not 
 always make a profit per head on their cattle. In iqi/ 
 the profit was $1.35 per steer while in iqiS and iqiq an 
 actual loss per animal was sustained. 
 
 The possibility of converting these materials which 
 formerly were waste products is based entirely on volume. 
 
 Page Sixty-Nine 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 No small packing plant can afford to organize factories 
 for the manufacture of these materials, but must put in 
 the waste pile everything except what can be most easily 
 assembled. The sources of the byproducts are the hide, 
 the blood, the \yaste meat, the viscera, the glands and the 
 bones. From the hair and hide come all kinds of leather, 
 brushes, binder for plaster, felt, padding, hair for uphol- 
 stering and mattresses and glue. From the sinews, fats 
 and blood come bloodmeal, filler for leather, ammoniate 
 for fertilizer, meat meal, lubricating oils, oleomargarine, 
 soap, glue, case hardening bone, gelatine, isinglass and 
 stearine. From the glands and the viscera come gold- 
 beaters' skins, perfume bottle caps, tennis strings, clock 
 cords, drum snares, violin strings, surgical ligatures and 
 pharmaceuticals (such as extract of thyroid, pituitary 
 liquid, pineal substance, suprarenals, pancreatin, adrena- 
 lin, pepsin, rennet, thrombo-plastin, etc.) From the 
 bones come combs, buttons, hairpins, umbrella handles, 
 napkin rings, tobacco boxes, buckles, crochet needles, 
 knife handles, dice, chessmen, electrical bushings, washers, 
 artificial teeth, bone rings for nursing bottles, glue, case 
 hardening bone, gelatine, fertilizers, oils, grease, soap and 
 red bone marrow. From the hoofs and horns come 
 various manufactured articles of horn, such as inkwells, 
 combs, hair-brush backs, etc., and neatsfoot oil. In the 
 larger manufacturing plants not a single element of what 
 was formerly called "packers' waste" is discarded as of 
 no value. 
 
 Page Seventy 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 
 
 References 
 
 BOOKS ON BEEF CATTLE 
 'Western Live Stock Management," 
 
 E. L. Potter (MacMillan & Company). 
 'Types and Classes of Live Stock," 
 
 H. W. Vaughan (R. S. Adams & Company). 
 "Live Stock Judging and Selection," 
 
 R. S. Curtis (Lea & Febiger). 
 'Judging Live Stock," 
 
 John A. Craig (Kenyon Printing & Mfg. Co.,) _ 
 'Principles and Practice of Judging Live Stock," 
 
 Carl W. Gay (MacMillan & Company). 
 "Cattle Breeds and Management," , 
 
 (Vinton &Z Company, London). 
 "Types and Breeds of Farm Animals," 
 
 C. S. Plumb (Ginn & Company). 
 "The Breeds of Live Stock," 
 
 C. W. Gay (MacMillan & Company). 
 "Shorthorn Cattle," 
 
 A. H. Sanders (Breeders* Gazette). 
 "The Story of the Here fords," 
 
 A. H. Sanders (Breeders' Gazette). 
 "History of Shorthorn Cattle," 
 
 MacDonald &z Sinclair (Vinton 62 Company, London). 
 "Fifty Years With the Shorthorns," 
 
 Robert Bruce (Vinton & Company, London). 
 "History of Hereford Cattle," 
 
 MacDonald &Z Sinclair (Vinton & Company, London). 
 "History of Aberdeen-Angus Cattle," 
 
 MacDonald & Sinclair (Vinton & Company, London). 
 "Aberdeen- Angus Cattle," 
 
 A. L. Pulling (Vinton 6z Company, London). 
 "Cattle, Breeds and Origin," 
 
 David Roberts (Dr. David Roberts, Waukesha, Wis.) 
 
 BOOKS ON FEEDS 
 
 "Feeds and Feeding," 
 
 Henry &Z Morrison (The Henry-Morrison Co., Madison, Wis.) 
 "Productive Feeding of Farm Animals," 
 
 F. W. Woll (Lippincott). 
 "The Feeding of Animals," 
 
 W. H. Jordan (MacMillan & Company). 
 "First Principles of Feeding Farm Animals," 
 
 C. W. Burkett (Orange Judd Company). 
 
 Page Seventy-one 
 
PROGRESSIVE BEEF C A T T L E R A I S I N G 
 
 "Profitable Stock Feeding," 
 
 H. R. Smith (Howard R. Smith, Union Stock Yards, Chicago). 
 "The Scientific Feeding of Animals," 
 
 O. Kellner (The MacMillan Company, London). 
 
 BOOKS ON BREEDING 
 "The Principles#of Stock Breeding," 
 
 J as. Wilson (Vinton 6^ Company, London). 
 "The Breeding of Animals," 
 
 F. B. Mumford (MacMillan fij Company). 
 "Breeding Farm Animals," 
 
 F. R. Marshall (Breeders' Gazette). 
 "The Breeding of Farm Animals," 
 
 M. W. Harper (Orange Judd Company). 
 "Inbreeding and Outbreeding," 
 
 East &z Jones (Lippincott). 
 "Heredity and Eugenics," 
 
 W. E. Castle (Harvard University Press). 
 
 BOOKS ON DISEASES 
 "Diseases of Cattle," 
 
 United States Department of Agriculture. 
 "Common Diseases of Farm Animals," 
 
 R. A. Craig (Lippincott). 
 "Principles of Veterinary Science," 
 F. B. Hadley (Saunders). 
 
 Publications of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
 available for free distribution by the Department: 
 
 "Lespedeza or Japan Clover," Farmer's Bulletin No. 441. 
 
 'Red Clover," Farmer's Bulletin No. 455. 
 
 'Market Hay," Farmer's Bulletin No. 508. 
 
 'Vetches," Farmers' Bulletin No. 515. 
 
 "Crimson Clover," Farmers' Bulletin Nos. 550, 579 and O46. 
 
 'Making and Feeding of Silage," Farmers' Bulletin No. 578. 
 
 'Beef Production in the South," Farmer's Bulletin No. 580. 
 
 'Economical Cattle Feeding," Farmer's Bulletin No. 588. 
 
 'Sudan Grass," Farrhers' Bulletin No. 605. 
 
 'Breeds of Beef Cattle," Farmers' Bulletin No. 612. 
 
 'Cottonseed Meal for Feeding," Farmers' Bulletin No. 655. 
 
 'Field Peas," Farmers' Bulletin No. 6qo. 
 
 'Stock Losses from Poisonous Plants," Farmers' Bulletin No. 720. 
 
 'Natal Grass," Farmers' Bulletin No. 726. 
 
 'Contagious Abortion," Farmers" Bulletin No. 7Q0. 
 
 'Production of Baby Beef," Farmers" Bulletin No. 811. 
 
 "Home-made Silos," Farmers" Bulletin No. 855. 
 
 'Dehorning and Castration," Farmers' Bulletin No. 949. 
 
 'Growing Beef on the Farm," Farmers" Bulletin No. 1073. 
 
 Page Seventy-two 
 

 
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