606 ANNUAL. R:^P0RT OF THE Off. Doc. 



Most of our beef producers, however, do not fatten mature 

 animals, but animals approaching maturity, and the tendency has 

 been to fatten these animals for the butcher at an earlier and earlier 

 age, I suppose that the standard would be about two to two and a 

 half years old — practically what we call a two year old. There has 

 been some so-called ^'baby beef" produced, but not a very large 

 amount, up to the present time. 



Now animals of that age occupy an intermediate position. They 

 need less protein than a very young animal and more than a mature 

 one. Unfortunatelj', we have no accurate data as to the lowest 

 amount of protein required by cattle. It is a question well worth 

 investigation, but it has never been gone into in a scientific man- 

 ner. It is, however, possible to take the results of some of the 

 trials at our experiment stations and get at approximate figures. 

 For instance, suppose we feed to a lot of two-j^ear-old cattle a 

 a ration containing a pound and a half of digestible protein per 

 day, and to a second similar lot a ration two pounds of digestible 

 protein per day. If better results are shown on the two pounds 

 a day, all other conditions being equal, we can safely conclude that 

 a pound and a half of digestible protein was not enough. In this 

 way by comparison we can get approximate figures, by which we 

 can estimate the least amount of protein required. This is an 

 empirical way to determine the matter, but it is the best we have 

 now. 



Approximate protein, requirements, per 1000 pounds live weight: 



CATTLE. 



Maintainence 0.5 



Meat Production: 



Age 2-3 month 4.0 



Age 3-6 months 3.0 



Age 6-12 months 2.5 



Age 12-18 months 2.0 



Age 24-30 months 1,5 



/Mature 1.0 



SHEEP. 



Maintenance ? 



Meat Production: 



Age 5-6 months 3.5 



Age 6-8 months 3.0 



Age 8-12 months 2.5 



Age 12-15 months 2.0 



Age 15-20 months 1.5 



SWINE. 

 Maintenance ? 



Meat Production: 



Age 2 months 3.0 



Age 4 months 2.75 



Age 6 months 2.50 



Age 8 months 2.25 



Now on this chart you will find approximate figures showing the 

 amount of protein required for cattle and other meat producing 

 animals. You will understand please that these are approximate 



