Live Stock Breeders' Association. 119 



had in mind the making of good cattle into prime beef. It is 

 furthermore clear from their answers to this question alone, and 

 still further by their answers to questions 8 and 13, that they also 

 had in mind cattle of from 24 to 32 months of age. 



A LONG TIME IS REQUIRED TO MAKE YOUNG ANIMALS FAT. 



The younger the animal the longer the time required to make 

 it fat. This is on account of the tendency of the young animal to 

 utilize its feed so largely for growth instead of for fat. It is fat 

 that makes the animal ripe and marketable. 



Clearly, the young animal, when on full feed, puts its food 

 to three distinct uses: 1, maintenance; 2, growth; 3, fat. The 

 rate of growth diminishes as the age of the animal increases. After 

 a certain time, therefore, the animal would reach an age when 

 growth would cease entirely. At such a time in the life of any 

 animal all of the available food above maintenance would neces- 

 sarily go to the production of fat. The presumption is that the 

 requirement for growth diminishes, not directly wiin tne age ot 

 the animal, but rapidly from weaning time to 18 or 20 months of 

 age. By this time the tendency to grow in the average well- 

 bred and early maturing steer has so far diminished as to not 

 affect the fattening process very seriously. It goes without say- 

 ing that with the decline in the tendency to grow comes a corre- 

 sponding increase in the tendency to fatten. These are all matters 

 of common observation among feeders, particularly the ease with 

 which older cattle may be made fat, and the comparatively short 

 feeding period necessary to bring this about, and, on the other 

 hand, the great difficulty in making young animals fat and the 

 long time required to accomplish it. 



Starting with six-months-old calves in good flesh, twelve 

 months time is required for making them strictly prime. Where- 

 as, three-year-old or four-year-old steers, of similar quality and 

 thinner in flesh to start with, may be made prime in six months. 

 Or, the same principle may be illustrated in another way: To 

 make a six-months-old calf prime will require the laying on of 

 from 600 to 700 pounds of additional weight, making the finished 

 animal weigh from 1,150 to 1,300 pounds, and requiring, as has been 

 said before, some twelve months of full feeding. Whereas, a 

 three-year-old steer, even thin in flesh at the outset, may be made 

 strictly prime by the addition of 400 pounds, weighing at the 

 close of the feeding period between 1,550 and 1,650 pounds. 



