EXPEKDIEXT IX CATTLE DEEDING. 275 



buying aud selling the price of meat advances. I am induced to 

 make these remarks, as they have a very direct bearing upon the 

 profit or loss of using feeding stufl's. Last season I carried out 

 an experiment to test how far some of the more commouly used 

 feeding stuffs could profitably take the place of turnips in cattle 

 feedino- and the most advantacreous kinds to use. The number 

 of articles tried in a single experiment must necessarily be 

 limited by the number of suitable cattle of equal breeding, age, 

 and sex upon a farm, aud the number that can be properly 

 attended to by an individual. When most of the food has to be 

 weighed twenty cattle are all that one person can attend to, and 

 as each lot should contain at least four animals, the number of 

 lots and the number of articles tried are necessarily limited to 

 live. 



The cattle selected for the experiment were twenty well-bred 

 Irish steers about twenty months old at the beginning of the 

 trial, and two years old at its close. They had been upon the 

 farm for twelve months previously, and were a good and equal 

 lot in thriving condition. They were bought on 13th Xovember 



1879 at £4, 10s. each ; they then weighed on an average 3 cwts. 

 3 C[rs. 23 lbs., and consequently cost 2'438d. per lb. live weight. 

 At the commencement of the experiment on 9th December 



1880 they weighed on the average 8 cwts. 3 C[rs. 27 lbs., being 

 an increase of lOj^^j lbs. per week. At the end of the experi- 

 ment, on 14th April 1881, they weighed on an average 10 cwts. 

 2 qrs. 22 lbs., being an increase of 10^^ per week. On 2nd 

 September 1881 they weighed on the average 12 cwts. 7J lbs., 

 being an increase of only 7J§ lbs. live weight per week. They 

 were then sold at 71s. per cwt., and as, when killed, they 

 averaged 57 per cent, of meat to live weight, the price they 

 made per lb. live weight was 4*3 lid. At the end of the experi- 

 ment, 14th April, all the lots were quite fat, and would liave 

 brought as much per cwt. as when sold. There was a considerable 

 loss by keeping on until 2ud September; younger animals would 

 have made much more weight for food consumed. They were 

 fed alike up to 9th December 1880, when they were divided into 

 five lots of four each, and fed as follows: — Lot 1 received 150 lbs. 

 of sliced swedes daily, divided into tliree feeds of 50 lbs. each ; 

 lot 2 got 50 lbs. sliced swedes and 5 lbs. of good pure linseed 

 cake ; lot 3 got 50 lbs. sliced swedes and 5 lbs. of American 

 decorticated cotton cake ; lot 4 got 50 lbs. sliced swedes and 

 5 lbs. bruised oats ; lot 5 got 50 lbs. sliced swedes and 5 lbs. 

 finely ground maize daily. Tlie turnips and other feeding stuffs 

 were equally divided into three lots, and given at three times 

 daily. Straw, which was not weighed, was supplied, but no 

 difference could be detected in tlie quantity used by the various 

 lots. Water was also given as required. The turnips were 



