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Feed And Fatten Good Stock

Feed And Fatten Good Stock image
Parent Issue
Day
11
Month
August
Year
1871
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

ïl]eilul]ipnirgns Pork is down ! down ! ! - four cents per pound, live weight, - and owners aro also down - in tbc muuth. Yet they have no good resson to bompïain. Wool was down last ynir, and the under lip of wool men lost elaaticity - was, in i'act, cllapsed. This season they are again happy - those who did not ronder their mutton into stiet, for soap groase. No couimodity can always reinuin at the top of the market. Prioes must rise and fall, fluctuate with the demand or scarcity of any Coinmodity. Pork at four cents a pound still represeulss a prioo equal to fort y cents a bushei forcorn. To those who both brood and .fatten au improved breed of swino, fm tv cents tbr corn is probably botter than can be obtuiucd except at dwtributing points. It is buying stock at larsre prices to feed that ruins so raany. Wo have heretofore shown that the feeder might rcalize profit by brceding as well, and it is not necessary to go over the same gioixnd :iain. Thoro is no better time to breed animáis thau when they can bo bought low. They may be ready for sale just when they are at tho top of the market. Tho breeding of cattlo, cspeoially, has beon allowod to languish of late years, and tho introduction of Texan cattlo and dovastating Spanish fever have follow,ed. Aro wo keeping up our stock of cattle r Most assuredly not. The stock market steadily shows a decrease in the quality of boot' cattlo. Our market reports too oíten laad as follows: "First qnality of stcers, that is, well-bred animáis averaging 1,101) icmnds, moroly nominal, would bring eignt to cight and a half cents, but none or only few offering." Farmir.s havo been depleting their stocks by solling tho best animáis to feeders, because tho large prioea which the ■war and subsequeut scarcity induoed wen a bait that they could not refuse. After the exhaustion of tho former great cattle breoding districta, buyers ransackc.l Wisconsin, Michigan, Northern Indiana, and other sections, for " pony " cattle and now thuy arefailing. We have heretofore shown how a farmer, by solecting the best roomy nativo cows, and brooding to good, meaty, thorough-bred bulls, might work into a class of stook that for all practical puiposes, would be as good üs tho best, and botter for beef and milk than tho " terribly high brod catth." Ifany farmers suppose that the broedingofnne cattle is a fine art. So it is, nul rpquires only good conimon sense, and such judgment as any farmer of common senso ought to possoss. Ono must öi course study tho oapabilitias of the animáis in question, soek to remedy defects if any, by mating with animáis particularly good in thoso respects in which tho others are deficiënt, discarding however, such as have glaring dofects. Any farmer who will give this attention ma y soon edúcate himself thereto, but tho trouble is, that too uiany expect these better bred animáis to be better ablo to take care of and shirk for themsolvos, thüii tüe wooih oattlo. But the h'ner the animal, or plant, as a rule, the loss it will bear abuse or starvation, and the better it will repay care and culture. Fino horses are not raised by letting them gain a precarious subsistonco as bost they may during the long months of Winter. The cattlo of the píuins of Texas and the steppes of South America, where feed is abundant, are nevertheless, bony. and not inclined to good beef points, al though tho climate is mild and food abundant. They are half wild, and need care and breeding. But care and breeding would uiiiit thom for taking care of themselves. We cannot let our stock run wild, and therefore it is the province of the good farmer to use every mcans in his power to improve his stock so that they may repay him for his extra caie and trouble. The three principal points for him to meet are care in selection, good shelter, and plenty of high feeding. It is the basis offormor success, and may not bo departed trom without seriousloss. Thero is monoy in tho breeding of good stock for indciiniti' years to come. Good beef, mutton, poultry, and pork will never go out of fashion. We are requiring more and more each ycar, and the further the farm lies from the markets, the greater the necessity that the owner inake his money from fattened stock. Selling grain impoverishes a country. Fattening stock makes it

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus