Show skill required for fattening breeder must now give more attention to feeding light animals prepared by th united state department of agriculture because of the higher price of beet smaller families and a smaller proportion of the population doing heavy manual 1 ibor in recent years as corn pared with former years the consumer Is demanding cuts of beef cattle bleeders breeders bre eders and feeders have been gradually adjusting their operations to meet this change instead of feeding the heavier type of beeves commonly marketed 40 years ago at four or five years of age they are now feeding calves and year lings and marketing them when they weigh from to 1200 pounds grow rather than fatten on account of the tendency of calves to grow rather than to fatten more Is required to fatten them within a reasonable time than Is nee in alie cae of older cattle ilie several phases of the fattening of calves for market are discussed in I 1 armors bulletin no F tat beet calves just issued by alie united states department of ag rt culture tn comparing the fattening of calves and older cattle the bulletin lists sev oral advantages in fiver of calves the quantity of feed required to make a pound of gain increases as the animal grows older calves make from 83 to as per cent more gain than mature cattle on the same quan alty of feed fat open heffers heifers weighing from to pounds sell nearly as well as steers heavier heffers heifers are bated against because they have more fat and are not so well cov ered as steers and because being old er the possibility of their being preg nant is greater calves can be carried longer than mature steers when clr arise such as bad markets a strike or an embargo as they will retain their bloom longer after they are ready to market why not to fatten on the other hand it Is not always advisable to fatten calves says the bulletin for the following reasons fattening calves require more at and skill on the part of the man feeding them than Is the case with older cattle calves of slow maturing type will not fatten rapidly enough to make desirable carcasses as such calves should generally be carried about two years as stockers before they are fattened the total feed required to produce a tat three acar old steer may be made up of a much larger proportion of hages than that required to produce a fat yearling mature cattle can eat coarser hages and broken ear corn anch better than young cattle mature cattle may be fattened in a much shorter time than calves as they have only to fatten while calves grow as well as fatten A copy of the bulletin may be ob tanned by writing to the united states department of agriculture washing on D 0 |