Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / May 6, 1909, edition 1 / Page 2
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2 THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER. Thursday, May 6, 1909. 00 More a Year Make It. X VIII. By Learning the Difference Between Scrub and Y SCRUB stock we mean, in this article, live stock of inferior quality that which does not do well the work for which it is kept and fed. In considering the quality of live stock we must not lose sight of the true purpose of live stock on thej farm, which is, as stated in last week's ar ticle, to convert the feed products grown on the farm into other products -milk, eggs, wool, beef, mutton,, pork, work, etc. of equal or greater value; I and at the same time leave the plant food taken from the soil in the growth of these feed products on the farm for the production of future crops. It must not be forgotten, either, that the quality of the products obtained plays as import ant a i part as the quantity in determining the quality or value of the live stock. A knowledge of what constitutes excellence in live stock is one of the first requisites of success in the production live stock. It is not necessary, and perhaps not always possible, that the success ful producer be anexpert judge of all classes and kinds of live stock" but the better judge he is of the kinds of live stock he breeds, the greater will be his success. In short, to know live stock is the first essential for its successful production. The quickest, easiest and most certain way to ob tain a working knowledge of live stock form and excellence is to have those characters and qualities which constitute the superior animal pointed out and explained by one who knows, using a good type Of the live animal for illustration. A less satisfactory method, but one which must frequently be resorted to, is to read a good de scription of the ideal type of the animal, study the best photographs obtainable of high class individ uals and compare all these with the best speci mens of the live animals available. While this method is not so satisfactory, any intelligent man may by following it become familiar with the generally approved types of the different kinds of live stock. It must, however, be distinctly un derstood at the outset that live stock excellence is a matter of type, rather than of breed. It is a question of ability to do the particular work for which the animal is kept and fed. There are scrubs in all the pure breeds, but most scrubs are of no breeding. The pure breeds are superior to the common mongrels, but not yet sufficiently so to be entirely free of scrubs. While in rare in stances "excellence in form, that is utility, may be sacrificed to fancy or ideas of beauty, as a general rule the form or characters which are approved or accepted as best are so approved because those animals which have possessed them to the largest degree have proved themselves superior in doing the work for which such animals are kept. Live Stock Judging. HE individual excellence of an animal may be estimated by comparing it with the gen erally accepted or approved ideal tvDe or form; or by actually putting the animal to the test of doing the work for which it is supposed to be fitted. In general live stock traffic the former method alone is practicable,; but the latter is much more reliable and accurate, hence should be used by the farmer or producer whenever practicable. For instance, the best dairy cows conform more or less closely to one general type, and, therefore, any good judge' of dairy cattle can, ; with a fair degree of accuracy, distinguish on appearances alone the good dairy cows from the scrubs; but the best judges fail too often to correctly estimate the difference between individuals, when depend ing on this method of selecting dairy cows. There fore,, weighing the feed and the product must be According to the last census each farmer In the NORTH Atlantic States earned $984 a year, and each farmer In the SOUTH Atlantic States only $484 or ex actly? $500 a year less for the average farmer In The Progressive Farmer's territory than for his brother farmer just north of him. The object of these articles Is to set forth the plans by which we may bring up our Southern farming to Northern profits, the next four articles In this series being as follows : May 13. By Learning Hoy to Make a Balanced Ration May 20. By Selling Dairy Products. May 27. By Cultivating Better and More Economl ? cally. June 3 By Building a Silo. resorted to for the final test. In other words, the dairyman must regularly weigh the milk and feec and test the milk for butter fat in order to know1 accurately his good cows from the scrubs. j The best aid to the novice in studying correct animal form is the so-called score-card, in whicr. the different parts of the animal are given their relative values in figures. In no other way car the value and relative importance of the differen parts be so clearly shown. For instance, if the total value of all the different parts of the ideal animal be 100 and a value of 3 be given to the; neck, 6 to the chest, 8 to the ribs, 8 to the loin and 10 to the back of a beef steer, we can at onc4 grasp the relative Importance of these parts inj such an animal. We have not given sufficient attention to these matters. If we are going to prof duce live stock successfully, we must know mori and be better judges of live stock. To be a judge of live; stock Is, of course, to know This Week's Guide Pott to "$500 More a Year." O KNOW live stock is the first es sential for its successful production. 5 We can learn the general type of ani mal fitted for a particular purpose from personal observation of good individuals with explanation of their different points by one familiar with their qualities the best way or from reading, the study of photographs and the comparison of the ani mals about us with these descriptions and pictures. The excellence of the individual animal is best determined by ;actual tests of the work it is its business to do or, where this is impossible, by the use of the score-card. The average dairy cow of the South makes about 130 pounds of butter per year; yet one reader has a herd which averaged B71 pounds per year. We can find out which class our cows are in by the use of the scales and the Babcock test. A Jersey steer weighed 11 pounds more, live weight, than a Hereford, yet the Here ford produced 127 pounds more beef. He had been bred for beef production; the Jersey had not. A scrub animal is one that does not do well the work for which it is intended; and the difference between animals of this class and those which do their work well may mean the difference between success and failure. the difference between scrub and good live stock and this is best learned by experience or through actually doing the thing. That is, we must have much experience with live stock before we cfin become good judges of it, and until we do become better judges of live stock we shall fail to fully appreciate the real differences between scrubs and good live stock. j It is impossible in an article of this sort to di s cuss fully all, the advantages to the farmer in keeping the best possible grade of live stock, but as representative of the whole question we shrill discuss briefly the advantages from keeping high class dairy and beef cattle. 5 The Cow That Pays and the Cowl l hat Doesn t m HE DAIRY cows of our territory probaply average not far from 130 pounds of butter in a year. One-hundred and thirtv nonrids oi cutter, at 2 5 cents a pound, amounts to $32.60. in wot, mujf ima ituiuuui, lo ieea sucn a c year, and the farmer, therefore, has onlv manure, the skim milk, and the calf to pay or iaDor ana interest on investment. The skim m Good Live Stock. from-such a cpw is not worth over $10 and the calf is worth practically nothing. It must! be remembered that this is the average cow there are those which produce less as well as these hich" produce more. The average dairy cow i j unprofitable and those below the average still morejso. Why are such cows fed and milked? Simply because their owners do hot know the dif ference between scrubs and good live stock. In the! issue of The Progressive Farmer for April 8, Mr. R, L. Shuford, of North Carolina, re ported tljat his herd of 37 cows averaged 371 pounds of butter each during 1908. He has no advantages over the average dairyman of the South' except that he has learned "The difference between scrubs and good live stock." The 130 pound cov barely pays for her feed, but the aver age cow in Mr, Shuford's herd, allowing 25 cents a pounc fof butter and $50 for cost of feed for the year, ;ivejs him a profit of $42.75. At the same time the skim milk ,1s worth twice as much as from the 130-pound; cow, because there is twice as much of it, land; the calf from such a cow is also worth live timesj as much. How aije we to learn this lesson of the difference between cows?; How are we to learn which are the ij 3 0-pound cows and which the 300-pound cows? SimDlv and onlv bv the use of the scales applied tj milk and feed and the Babcock test for butter fat. :': & ET US now see 'I we can show the real reasons why the drst-class beef-breed steer Is superior to the scrub for beef produc tion. In the? scrub class, when it comes to beef pro duction, we must put the dairy-bred steer as well as the native scrub of no breeding. No surplus flesh is qesirable in the dairy cow. Her business is to convert feed into milk, and if she converts it into flesh instead, to cover her own back, she is a frahd. j On the other hand, the business of the beef janimal is to convert feed into flesh or beef and put it on his back, loins and hips where the most valuable meat is found; and with him, as with all other meat-producing animals, the de sirable si iape: is as near that of a box, or parallelo gram, as is possible. The first point that suggests itself to the aver age person wherein the beef steer is superior to the ficrujb isi that he will make more pounds of gain in weight on a given amount of feed. To the surpi isejof most people, this is not so. We know this statement always raises a vigorous dissent wheiever made, almost anywhere in the South, but it is all the same, a fact which has been pretty well established. Years ago when Sanborn of Lliss Duri announced the results of feeding experi menl s in which the Ozark Mountain scrub made as manl pounds of gain in proportion to feed con sumed as did well bred Shorthorn steers, as great a prbtesjt arose as is still made against it in the Soutjh; but ) subsequent tests at the experiment stations! of Ontario, Kansas, Iowa, .Michigan, Mis souri and elsewhere have shown that Holsteins, Jers jys jandf other scrubs in beef production, will gain as many pounds. in weight on a. given quantity oi ieea as . will beef-bred animals. If the well imp mal tion! beef steer gains in 'weight more raDidlv than the scrub, which he will, it is because he eats more. fThe difference in. this respect, however, is not great: : . Maturity and Better Quality. MUST THEREFORE look farther for the ause of the first-class beef steer's superi- r - -- vi ii u. uaii y jxiciLuriLV is hll brtant poiut of superiority in a good beef ani- tor it usually means cheaper cost of produc It has been found that it costs from 15 to 2 5 per cent less to produce beef in a steer that is finished at from 15 to 18 months than on one that is fjid until three years old. Henry in his "Feeds and Fejeding" states that it costs about double the secdnd year and three times as much the third yea : to produce a pound of beef as it doss the. first yeai- of jan animal's life. The gain per day is much muierapiu ana requires less feed per pound. One reason for this is that it reauires nearlv twirp as mufch to keep a 1,000-pound steer alive without gain or loss as it does to maintai (Continued on Page 3.)
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
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May 6, 1909, edition 1
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