Farmers' Week in Agricultural College. 185 



14. Supplemented rations rapidly increase values. — In general for 

 short feeding periods the supplemented rations increase the value per 

 hundred pounds more rapidly than does a ration of shelled corn. 



15. Adding supplements during later stages of feeding period. — Dur- 

 ing the last sixty days the addition of linseed oil meal to a ration made 

 up exclusively of corn resulted in a considerable increase in the rate 

 of gain and a consequent decrease in the amount of grain required to 

 make one pound of gain. 



16. Efjicieyicy of corn alone. — Measured by gain in live weight in 

 this experiment feeding a ration made up exclusively of corn to two- 

 year-old cattle on blue grass pasture was almost or quite as efficient for 

 thin cattle on a short feed as was the feeding of supplemented rations. 

 For longer feeding periods the supplemented rations are better. (Table 

 18.) , 



17. When to feed supplements. — The results of our experiments 

 for many years with various rations and kinds of cattle clearly indicate 

 the value of supplements in maintaining the appetite and in securing 

 satisfactory gains during the last stages of the feeding period. The 

 value of supplements during the first part of the feeding period has in 

 many experiments been of doubtful economic value. 



18. Proportion of supplement to feed. — In our experiments a grain 

 ration composed of 6 or 7 parts of corn to one of linseed oil meal or 

 cottonseed meal has been more efficient than rations containing a larger 

 proportion of supplement. 



YEARLING, TWO-YEAR-OLD AND THREE-YEAR-OLD CATTLE COMPARED. 



1. Average daily gains. — Two-year-old cattle make larger average 

 daily gains than yearlings. 



2. Grain eaten daily. — Two-year-old cattle consume from 13 per 

 cent to 22 per cent more grain per day and per head than do yearlings. 



3. Grain eaten per thousand pounds live weight. — Two-year-old 

 cattle in this experiment consumed more grain per day per thousand 

 pounds live weight than yearlings. 



4. Grain required for one pound of gain. — Yearlings requires less 

 grain for each pound of gain than do two or three-year-old cattle. Other 

 things being equal, the younger the animal the less grain is required to 

 make a pound of gain. The condition of the animal at the beginning 

 of the feeding period is an important factor, and may to a large extent 

 counteract the influence of age in determining cheaper gains. 



5. Most profitable age to feed.— In these investigations the fat- 



