Live Stock Breeders' Association. 145 



notwithstanding the fact that the animal has disposed of it and 

 is thin. It might be likened to a man with money deposited in a 

 bank. He sees an opportunity to use this money to good advantage, 

 and withdraws it from the vaults of the bank, and in one sense 

 spends it, but really invests it, or exchanges it for another form of 

 wealth which he considers to be more valuable or useful to him. 

 The results of some experiments* now in progress at the Missouri 

 Experiment Station strongly indicate that fat in young and grow- 

 ing animals may be used to support the growth process if neces- 

 sary. It is not to be believed that fat may contribute directly to 

 the growth of the animal, that is, to the increase in size and weight 

 of the muscular tissue, skeleton, hide, etc., but when such an ani- 

 mal is on a limited ration it is entirely possible that the stored fat 

 of the body may be used to supply a portion at least of the animal 

 heat and the energy required in the ordinary activities of the ani- 

 mal, thus protecting the proteids in the food so that they may be 

 used by the animal for making growth. If the animal had no 

 stored fat to use for the protection of the proteids in the feed, or 

 if this fat resorping process, so to speak, could not go on in the 

 animal organism, these proteids would need to be burned to supply 

 fuel for the organism instead of being manufactured into muscle 

 and skin and other body tissue. 



The outcome of it all seems to be, therefore, that it is possible 

 to lay on fat in summer cheaply and to draw upon this reserve in 

 winter to such an extent that the amount of feed required to carry 

 the animal through the winter is reduced without seriously inter- 

 fering with the rate of growth. Precisely this has taken place on 

 the ranges since animals first inhabited this area, and this is what 

 occurs on our best farms, even when young animals are fed mod- 

 erately in winter following a period of liberal nourishment at 

 pasture. 



We are perfectly familiar with the phenomenon of young and 

 rapidly growing animals going out to grass in the spring somewhat 

 heavier than when they came into winter quarters the fall before, 

 but thinner, i. e., carrying less fat than they did in the fall, but 

 taller, and materially larger. In general, to carry such animals 

 through the winter without the loss of any of the fat, would require 

 a heavier and richer ration than is ordinarly given to this class of 

 stock, even on our best farms. It is obvious, therefore, that fat 

 that is so used is neither lost nor wasted, but is rather exchanged 



•Results not yet published. 



A— 10 



