972 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



cattle, a smaller margin than long fed cattle, because the costs of gams is 

 higher the longer cattle are on feed. Cattle of high quality require a nar- 

 rower margin than cattle of poor quality because of the higher price at which 

 they sell when finished. A larger margin is required in winter than in summer, 

 because it requires more feed to make a pound of gain. The higher the price 

 of feed, the larger the margin required, unless the price of finished cattle has 

 correspondingly increased. . . . 



"Taking the average price of all fat hogs and all the fat steers sold on the 

 Chicago market for the past 24 years, it has been found that the hogs have 

 brought a higher price per pound. It will be accepted without argument that 

 less food is required to make a pound of gain on hogs than on cattle. As a 

 rule, therefore, the hog end of the cattle-feeding operation is more profitable 

 than the cattle end. . . . 



" In the buying of the animal there is required an intimate knowledge of 

 the whole range of cattle feeding and of market requirements with regard to 

 different classes at different seasons of the year, etc. The business judgment 

 developed at this point will affect very vitally the financial outcome. 



" Endeavor to meet these requirements of the market. No one can hope to 

 develop good judgment in this direction without a thorough familiarity with 

 the various market classes of cattle and without knowing how much fat each 

 class requires to enable it to be sold to the best advantage. It would of course 

 be fatal to follow one rule with all grades. Cattle of good quality will require 

 a relatively higher finish because, as a rule, their cost price as feeders is so 

 high that there will be too small a margin between it and the selling price to 

 pay a profit if they are not made prime." 



Beef production, J. H. Grisdale (Canada Expt. Farms Rpfs. 1906, pp. 66- 

 78). — In a test undertaken to study the effect of breeding on gains, 9 steers of 

 excellent breeding and conformation made an average daily gain of 2.02 lbs. at 

 a cost of 7.64 cts. per pound in a 116-day period. Eight similar animals of good 

 breeding and very fair conformation gained 2.26 lbs. per head per day at a cost 

 of 6.72 cts. per pound, and 8 animals of mongrel breeding and poor conforma- 

 tion gained 1.82 lbs. per head per day at a cost of S.G cts. per pound under 

 similar conditions of feeding and care. 



In a second series of tests, 7 steers of good conformation and quality gained 

 2.36 lbs. per head per day at a cost of 4.26 cts. per pound in ISO days, while a 

 like number of inferior steers gained 2.27 lbs. per head per day, the gain costing 

 4.97 cts. per pound. 



In a study of the jiossibility of profitably feeding beef in stable." a lot of 10 

 animals in 92 days made an average daily gain of 2.21 lbs. per steer at a cost 

 of 6.37 cts. per pound. A similar lot of 10 animals in 116 days gained 2.46 lbs. 

 per head per day at a cost of 4.52 cts. per pound. Both lots were fed meal, 

 silage and roots, and hay. 



A second test of long and short feeding periods was made, in which 7 steers 

 fed ISO days gained 2.36 lbs. per head per day at a cost of 4.26 cts., while a 

 similar lot of S animals fed 130 days gained at the rate of 2.0S lbs. per head 

 per day at a cost of 4.58 cts. per pound. . 



Tests with lots containing 5 or 6 steers and extending over 2 or 3 years are 

 reported in which limited and full fattening rations were studied in connection 

 with the question of raising baby beef, the limited rations being fed from 234 

 to 743 days and the full fattening rations from 213 to 414 days. On the 

 limited rations the greatest gain was 1.65 lbs. per head per day and the 

 smallest, 1.42 lbs., the cost of a pound of gain ranging from 3.13 cts. with the 

 latter lot to 4.85 cts. per pound with the former lot. On the full fattening 

 ration the greatest gain was 2.1 lbs. per head per day at a cost of 4.14 cts. per 



