ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 873 



because of a reserve of capital, but because there bad been more business sa- 

 gacity and iijore skillful management of the stoclc and the food given." 



Eeed required to grow steers, H. J. P.\tterson (Mari/Iand Sta. Bui. 121, pp. 

 Itl-llS). — Some data are recorded and briefly discussed with reference to 

 the amount of feed required for steers fi-om calves to maturity. 



Two Aberdeen-Angus calves weaned when 5 days old made, respectively, 

 an average daily gain of I.IS and 1.36 lbs. per head for 745 days, the first 

 calf requiring ,5.S3 lbs. grain, 4.78 lbs. haj-, and 2.18 lbs. milk per pound of 

 gahi and the second 4.92 lbs. grain, 4.19 lbs. hay, and 1.08 lbs. milk. According 

 to the author, the data recorded for the individual months show that 2 to 3 

 times as much feed is required to " iiroduce a pound of gain during the steers' 

 second as their first year. These figures also show quite conclusively that 

 steers to be profitably grown must be made to gather their own food as much 

 as possible, and thus reduce labor expense to a '^liuimum. and that at best they 

 must be used as a means for converting unmarketable product-s into a market- 

 able form." 



In the case of 3 steers fed for 2 years the total gain ranged from 340 to 480 

 lbs., while 2 heifers in a like period gained 314 and 320, respectively. 



Methods of steer feeding [barn v. open sheds], T. I. Mairs {Pennsylvania 

 Sta. Rpt. 1906, pp. l.'/5-150). — When barns v. open sheds were compared with 

 2 lots of 12 steers each for 20 weeks, the average gain of the barn-fed lot was 

 2G1 lbs. and the lot fed in sheds 271 lbs. per head, the cost of a pound of gain in 

 the 2 lots being respectively 12.02 and 11.65 cts. The barn-fed lot required 9.94 

 lbs. of corn-and-cob meal and 1.01 lbs. of cotton-seed meal per pound of gain, and 

 the lot fed in sheds 9.51 and 0.97 lb., respectively. In each case the stover 

 eaten per pound of gain was 3.01 lbs. and the hay 2.05 lbs. for the barn-fed lot 

 and 2.83 lbs. for the shed-fed lot. 



The general results of the test, according to the author, are similar to those 

 obtained in previous tests (E. S. R., 17, p. 794). 



" The two lots of steers ate practically the same amount of feed and made 

 practically the same gains. The temperature of surroundings seems to have 

 very little effect upon the rate of gain. The steers in the barn seemed to gain 

 more uniformly than those outside. Stormy weather with much rain and snow 

 affected adversely the steers in the open shed, and those in the barn to a less 

 extent." 



Corn-and-cob meal v. broken ear corn, T. I. Mairs (Pennsylvania Sta. Rpt. ' 

 1906, pp. 151-15ff). — In a study of the comparative value of corn-and-cob meal 

 and broken ear corn a lot of 11 steers was fed such corn in comparison with 

 the barn-fed lot noted above. In IS weeks the average gain was 219 lbs. per 

 head, as compared with 243 lbs. for the lot fed corn-and-cob meal. Practically 

 the same amounts of hay and grain were eaten per steer in each case. The 

 author computes that for the whole lot there was a difference of $3.41 in the 

 cost of pre[)aration in favor of the broken ear corn, which " was not offset by 

 the increased gains." 



Pig feeding with cassava and sweet potatoes, C. M. Conner {Florida Sta. 

 Bui. 90, pp. 9). — In the first of the tests rei)orted cassava and sweet potatoes 

 supplementing like amounts of shorts were compared with 2 lots of 3 pigs in a 

 test covering 2 i)eriods of 28 days each, the rations being reversed at the end 

 of the first period. On sweet potatoes the average daily gain per liead was 1.83 

 lbs. and on cas.sava 1.24 lbs. 



When sweet potatoes and cassava alone and mixed in equal proportions were 

 compared with corn with 4 lots of 4 I'azor-back pigs fed for 42 days, a gain of 

 0.357 lb. per liead was noted with the corn-fed lot. The other lots lost weight. 



39256— No. 9—08 6 



