Live Stock Breeders' Association. 157 



AVERAGE GAIN PER MONTH FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON ON GRASS ALONE. 



This was figured on the basis of a six months grazing period, 

 or from about the first of May until the end of October. The cheap- 

 ness of these gains will be apparent when it is realized that a lib- 

 eral charge for the pasturage of cattle of this sort is from 75 cents 

 to $1.00 per month. 



Assuming that 75 cents per month be charged for yearlings, 

 the average cost per pound of gain on the basis of the estimates in 

 the foregoing table, taking 47 pounds per month as the average, 

 would be approximately $1.50 per hundred. 



Assuming a charge of $1.00 per month for pasturage for two 

 year olds, and an average gain of 52 pounds per month, would make 

 the summer gain cost an average of $1.92 per hundred. 



When these figures of the cost of gains are contrasted with 6 

 cents, 7 cents, or 8 cents per pound for gains made in winter, the 

 advantages of making all the gains possible in summer are self- 

 evident. 



Part II. Fattening Cattle for the Market. 



The man who fattens cattle for the market is not usually the 

 man who raises cattle. The fattening of cattle has come to be a 

 profession large enough to engage the entire attention of an import- 

 ant class of farmers. As a rule these feeders have no particular 

 interest in where or how the cattle may have been raised, so long 

 as they have been bred properly and may be bought at a price that 

 will bear the expense of the fattening process. In the fitting of 

 cattle for market, the laying on of fat is the prime consideration, 

 and the doing of this in the shortest possible time, has always been 

 regarded as especially important. In the raising of cattle, as has 

 been pointed out in the earlier part of this article, the production 

 of growth is of chief importance. • 



Growth is, commercially speaking, relatively cheap to make, 

 and sells for a comparatively low price. Fat, on the other hand, is 

 from every point of view the most expensive animal product to 

 make, and has a high commercial value, because of the degree to 

 which it enhances the value of the carcass already produced. It is 



