not be too suddenly made, nor at too young an age, or it will produce an unnatural distention of the abdomen, causing the young animal to appear ill-shaped and "paunchy;" and this form, with the unthrifty habit thus occasioned, usually continues through life. The bran or meal should be continued through the first winter; the expense will not be much greater than if hay were fed exclusively, while the rapid growth of the animal will give a very large profit on the increased expenditure.

With this management a steer calf will be worth at a year old three times as much as the average of the calves raised according to the system usually practiced. Common calves at this age can usually be had for $5 or $6, and are really worth little if any more than the same animals, well kept, would be worth at four months old; while steers at this age, (12 months). of good blood and kept as here recommended, will readily sell for $18 to $20. The difference in the value will be nearly three times the difference in the expense. In the one case the amount expended is a clear loss, in the other it yields a large profit. Plenty of good grass through the next summer will bring the yearling in high condition into his winter quarters; and he will be able to maintain this condition tolerably well through the next winter on hay or corn-fodder alone. But a little grain may be very profitable fed towards spring, as it will prepare the animal for a more rapid growth upon the grass of the next summer, at the close of which the steer, if of good blood, will upon this treatment weigh from 1100 to 1300 lbs, and worth in ordinary times from $30 to $40. In January, 1864, my atten tion was called to a sale of a lot of grade steers 20 months old at $36 each.

Should the breeder conclude to keep his steers another year, they should have the next winter corn in the shock, equal to what is called half feeding, and when there is added to this another summer of good grazing, the animals will be at the most profitable age for sale. They will weigh 1500 to 1700 lbs., and be worth from $60 to $75 each; while common steers of the same age will not exceed 10 to 1200 lbs. in weight, and be worth much less per hundred. A common steer weighing 1200 lbs. live weight, will scarcely make 600 lbs. of beef, while a steer of good blood in ripe condition weighing 1700 lbs. will produce 1000 lbs. of beef. We have therefore this striking difference in the per cent. of dead weight as compared with the gross weight, in addition to the superior quality of the flesh, in favor of the well fed and well bred steer. And it is to be observed that as these merits are becoming better appreciated, the price per hundred of good cattle as compared with common, is constantly increasing.

The heifers should be managed the same as steers for the first two years, and they should be bred so as to come in at the age of three years; and and if designed exclusively for milking purposes it may be as well that

they should come in at two years. I am satisfied that they make better milkers. The calves should be dropped as early as the month of April, as later calves are not so profitable, especially if designed to be raised for steers. Indeed the calf ought to be old enough to eat grass by the 10th of May, so as to give it the benefit of the whole grass season; for it is to be remembered that the chief profit in this business is to be derived from grazing; and our management throughout should be such as to enable us to avail ourselves of all its benefits. We cannot afford to raise cows to sell for dairy purposes. The prices paid, say from $20 to $30, are below the cost of production. A steer at three years old off, will, as we have seen, sell for $60 to $75, while a cow and calf at the same age, and costing nearly as much to produce, would bring less than half the amount. We must, however, raise what are required for our own use, and keeping the best, the very best, all the rest we must convert into beef. It does not pay to sell calves to the butcher. The common price in most parts of Ohio for calves four or five weeks old has been three to four dollars; while the milk consumed, say 12 quarts per day, even at two cents per quart, would amount to seven dollars and twenty cents.

It is bad economy to sell animals at a youger age than two years, as the market price is usually very far below their true value. For example, a fat calf weighing 100 lbs. gross, will make 80 lbs. saleable product-hide and flesh, and ought therefore, as the meat retails as high as beef, to sell for a third more per pound live weight, than a matured animal. But the fact is that they usually sell for much less.

The cost of producing a yearling steer, making a proper allowance for the expense, in part, of keeping the cow and service of the bull, cannot be less than $15; and is probably nearer $20; while the market price for such a steer will not usually exceed $10. But such a steer will, as we have seen, during the next 18 month, with liberal feeding one winter, and good grazing two summers, be made to weigh 1200 lbs., and will sell from $35 to $45; while another year will bring the price from $60 to $75. A lot of several hundred high grade Durhams were sold in Marion county in June, 1863, for $75 each.

It is therefore incontrovertably true that the breeder who sells his steers at so young an age as 12 months is engaged in a losing business, while the breeder who breeds good animals, and keeps them to the age of 30 months and over, is conducting a business that always gives a fair profit. And yet notwithstanding this undeniable fact, it is probably true that more than three fourths of all the steers raised in Ohio are sold by their breeders at or under the age of 12 months, or at all events under the age of 18 months.

Farmers do not figure like merchants; if they did, I am disposed to think that a very large portion of the calves now raised would be knocked in the head and thrown away as soon as dropped. I have said that calves (common ones) are usually sold at $5 or $6 at the age of from 6 to 12 months, and I have shown that this will not pay for the milk they consume, to say nothing of the other feed.

To illustrate the advantage of good blood, and the profitable results of high feeding, a statement is here appended taken from the Country Gentleman, of the cost and return of a fat ox:

He was slaughtered at this last mentioned age, and the weight, 2840, was after a fast from food and water of 40 hours, and was sold for $325, nearly 11 cents live weight. His dressed weight was-beef, 2209 lbs.; tallow, 190 lbs.; hide, 130 lbs; total 2529! He was a grade short horn, light of offal, small boned, and sprightly. He was fed too long for profit; at the age of three to four years he could have been sold at a fair profit upon the entire cost, while the result in the end is seen to have been a small loss.

This illustrates the superiority of those breeds which "carry their growth with their condition," and excel in early maturity.

This statement proves also the important fact already referred to, that in producing beef, the profits are mainly derived from grazing. Undoubt edly this steer was stabled in the winter, and was fed on ground feed, and probably roots, so as to produce the most rapid and economical increase in weight; and yet it will be observed that the increase on grass, in propor tion to the expense, is much the best. And this suggests the propriety of observations in this paper on

PASTURES.

Of course the limits prescribed for this article will permit only a few suggestions of a practical character.

Sant

It seems that in this State, so far as our experience goes, we are limited to a very few varieties of grasses for permanent pastures. I place at the head of these, blue grass, (poa pratense) then orchard grass, and for rich wet soils, red-top; which latter is a much better grass than is generally supposed by farmers. These three varieties have the merit of "staying;' and they are, so far as I know, the only good varieties yet tried in Ohio, that will not run out.

In selecting the grass for pasture, as well as its management, of course very much depends upon the character of the soil. The blue grass will, and does grow in all parts of Ohio that I am acquainted with, though it does best usually upon the limestone soils; having a surface root, it is not adapted to light soils, and suffers great injury on any soil from hot, dry weather, if pastured close. In this respect the orchard grass is superior to it, the roots going much deeper. Indeed this grass stands dry weather as well as clover.

The orchard grass does not cover the ground as well as the blue grass, though when it is pastured it is much better in this particular than in meadow. The best pastures are produced by sowing both these grasses together. It is also recommended that red clover should be added, and perhaps timothy; not that either of these latter will remain in the pasture, but I have observed that the effect of the clover roots in loosening and enriching the soil, adds greatly to the growth af the blue grass. And the timothy will afford some pasture for a few years, and until the blue grass spreads so as to occupy the ground.

There has of late been considerable discussion as to the merits of perma nent pastures as compared with those that are frequently cultivated. The differences of opinion upon this subject probably arise from observations upon different soils. Undoubtedly a rich soil, well adapted to the produotion of grass, like some of the black lands in the counties of Marion, Union, or Madison, or the bottom lands on any of our streams, will produce better grass, and in all respects more profitable returns as pasture lands, where they are never plowed; aud upon such soils the practice cannot be too highly recommended.

But upon heavy clay lands there can be no doubt but that an occasional breaking up, so as to expose the stiff sub-soil to the action of the sun and the frost, is absolutely necessary. I appreciate the force of the argument that these soils from the leaves and other vegetable matter that have been deposited for hundreds of years, have in their natural state a richer surface than we can ever give them after we have broken them up. All this is very true; but it is also true "that a soil that is not penetrated by air can never, however rich in the food of plants, produce a good crop."

With deep cultivation, the application of manure and clover, most of our clay lands may be brought into condition, if drained, for permanent pastures. And upon these soils, for the reason that our object must be in all our proceedings, to loosen the soil so as to admit the air, whenever we sow to grass, whether it be for meadow or pasture, we must add clover to our mixture of seeds.

It is surprising how much farmers lose by thin sowing. It is a common practice to sow but a bushel of timothy to eight acres; which is certainly not more than half the quantity that should be applied. Suppose this seed to cost three dollars, or if a proper mixture of seed, say five dol lars; by adding as much more, we make the cost of the seed but one dollar and seventy-five cents per acre; which would be far less than the dif ference in value in a single year, between a thick crop of grass, covering well the ground, and such thin crops as we generally see. But should the seed, by procuring the best varieties and a suitable quantity, cost twice this amount, the sum, when a permanent pasture is to be established, would be a matter of no consequence in comparison of the benefits to be derived from proper seeding.

If from any cause the grass comes up thin, or we have bare spots, we must apply the harrow and more seed immediately, for it will never pay to wait until the grass spreads, for we shall thus lose many times the expense of the application of more seed, lose indeed more than it would be worth to plow up and sow over again.

I doubt the policy of top dressing old pastures, as practiced with us. On rich soils it is not necessary, on stiff clays, for the reasons already stated, if the pastures fail, they should be broken up; and the application of manure on the surface then, with the seed, will be productive of the best results. On light sandy soils the application on the surface is a good practice.

The advantage of keeping our pastures always up to a "full bite" for the cattle, cannot be overestimated. Without this the stock cannot be kept at the highest point of improvement, as they always should be to give the most profitable results. But a consideration equally important is the fact that a given quantity of land will produce far more pasture when the grass is thus up, so as to protect the ground from the heat of our dry summers.

THOROUGHBRED CATTLE.

The State of Ohio has about 2,000,000 of cattle, of which about 300,000 are annually disposed of as fat cattle. If these latter were all pure bred or high grades, it is obvious that their aggregate value would be very largely increased; probably $10 per head would be a low estimate of the