LIVE STOCK breeders' ASSOCIATION. 175 



We have some figures for comparing on even terms this factor 

 of age on profitable cattle feeding. I do not want you to confuse the 

 rations, although that is another question of growing interest about 

 Vv^hich we have something definite to- say. But I want to call your 

 attention now particularly to the amount of grain required to produce 

 a pound of gain on these cattle at different ages. I will first present 

 the figures for this present season, from May ist to December 4th,. 

 1904, the feeding period just ended. From May ist to December ist, 

 1904, we fed one lot of 30 yearling Shorthorns in comparison with one 

 lot of two-year olds and the amount of grain required to produce a 

 pound of gain, which tells the story in this case, and the whole g?in 

 I will give you. 



Lot I was fed on corn and linseed meal and the daily gain was for 

 the yearlings 2.45 pounds, and the grain required to produce a pounct 

 of gain was '] .'jy pounds. The lot fed on corn and cotton seed meal 

 made a gain of 2.24 pounds at an expenditure of 8.3 pounds of grain. 

 Lot III was fed on corn and gluten feed and they made a gain of 2.23 

 pounds per day, and it required 7.76 pounds of grain to produce that 

 gain. Lot IV was fed shelled corn alone, and they gained 2.23 pounds 

 per day at an expenditure of 7.27 pounds. These latter were year- 

 lings. 



I will now give the results with the two-year olds on blue grass 

 pasture and the same grain rations. The daily gains of the two-year olds 

 were as follows: On corn and linseed meal 2.97 pounds; on corn ard 

 cotton seed meal 2.65. pounds; on corn and gluten feed 2.06 pounds; 

 on shelled corn alone 2.51 pounds; the grain required to produce a 

 pound of gain was S.i pounds; 8.7 pounds; and 817 pounds re- 

 spectively. 



Now, here we have a much more accurate experiment than the 

 one previously described, because these animals were fed the same 

 season ; they were fed exactly the same way the winter previous, and 

 they started into the experiment in the same condition so far as we 

 were able to judge. The daily gain of the yearlings on corn and lin- 

 seed meal was 2.45 pounds; the two-year olds 2.97 pounds; the 

 amount of grain required to produce a pound of gain was "f .jy pounds 

 and 8.1 pounds respectively. It required less grain for the yearlings 

 than for the two-year olds, notwithstanding the large gain made by 

 the two-year olds, and by the way, this is a very remarkable gain for 

 a lot of cattle for the entire season. It is seldom indeed that cattle 

 make an average of three pounds of gain in a six months' feeding 

 period. With the cotton seed meal the gain was 2.26 pounds for the 

 yearlings and 2.65 for the two-year olds. The daily gain with the 



