Live Stock Breeders' Association. 135 



factor, namely, the difference in condition of the animal. That a 

 difference in condition exerts a profound influence upon the cost of 

 gain, need not at this point be supported with experimetal data. 

 It is a well accepted law in feeding, abundantly demonstrated in the 

 scientific experiments of the stations and by the experience of the 

 practical feeder. 



Granting, therefore, that the young animals make gains at 

 less cost, other things being equal, than do the older animals, it is 

 equally true that the cost of gain on fat cattle is greater than on 

 thin animals, and probably the difference between an animal thin 

 in flesh and one that is thick fat is greater than that to be fairly 

 attributed to difference in age, as between an eight or nine months 

 old calf and a three-year-old steer, both being in the same condi- 

 tion or state of flesh. 



Fig. 7. BeRinnlng to show finish. 



Thus, by making the older animal thick fat, and stopping the 

 experiment before the young animal is equally fat, we add to the 

 increased cost due to age the increased cost due to additional fat- 

 ness, and in the past we have ascribed this total difference to age 

 alone, as has been already pointed out. 



The exact difference in the cost of gain between the two 

 classes of animals would depend upon their relative ages and the 

 relative degree of fatness to which they were carried before the 

 experiment closed. Other things being equal, the greater the dif- 

 ference in the ages of the cattle the greater would be. the difference 

 in their condition of fatness when the experiment closed, provid- 

 ed they were both fed an equal length of time. Therefore, the 



