10 The Bulletin. 



It will be seen that animals only 297 days old had made an average 

 daily gain of 2.63 pounds; whereas, animals 1,283 days old had only 

 averaged a gain of 1.51 pounds per day, and during the last 340 days 

 of their life had only gained .88 of a pound per day. 



As the rate of gain per day decreases the cost increases, as we would 

 naturally suppose. On this point Curtis says : 



"There is a difference of from 15 to 25 per cent in producing a 

 pound of beef on a steer three years old and one finished at fifteen or 

 eighteen months; that is a well-established principle, and applies to 

 hogs and sheep as well as to cattle." Henry, in 'Teeds and Feed- 

 ing," says the cost of making a pound of gain is about double the 

 second year what it was the first, and about three times the third 

 year what it was the first ; or, to be more definite : "At the Fat Stock 

 Show for 1882 the feed for 100 pounds of gain for steers up to 12 

 months cost $4.03; between 12 and 24 months it was $7.98; while 

 between 24 and 36 months the cost reached $12.54." 



The reasons for the decrease in the rate of gain per day and in- 

 crease in the cost per pound with age are : First, a young animal 

 will eat more in proportion to his weight than an old one, and, second, 

 the larger the animal the more food he must eat to merely support or 

 keep alive his body before he can devote anything to growth or laying 

 on fat. The food necessary to support the animal body without gain 

 or loss is known as a "maintenance ration," and as this, of course, in- 

 creases with the size of the animal, the cost of gain must also increase, 

 because a young animal only requiring 5 pounds of feed for the sup- 

 port of his body only has to charge his owner up with 5 pounds of 

 feed before he begins converting the balance of his ration into meat, 

 but a larger animal requiring 15 pounds of feed for the mere sup- 

 port of his body must charge up three times as much against his 

 owner before crediting him with any increase in weight. 



From this, the importance of early maturity and good feeding 

 from birth to the block will be plainly seen, but it does not follow that 

 where pastures are extensive and coarse feeds cheap, money may not 

 be made by merely growing steers up to three years old and then 

 fattening them. 



By merely growing steers up to two or three years old, is not meant 

 barely feeding enough to sustain life. It will never pay to allow a 

 steer to lose flesh or weight. He should be kept growing all the time, 

 enough grain being fed when the pastures are short, and during the 

 winter, to maintain the body weight and supply something besides 

 for growth. In many cases the conditions are such, in the South, as 

 to render this plan preferable to the forcing system. However, the 

 best quality of beef and usually the most money is made by forcing 

 with an abundance of rich food from birtli to the block. 



Where lands are cheap the ideal way to procure feeders is to raise 

 them, but for a long time to come the increasing number throughout 



