LECTURE VIII. 



SELECTING STEERS FOR THE FEED-LOT. 



In selecting steers for the feed-lot, profit is the con- 

 trolling factor. This depends upon the economy of gain, and 

 rate of gain by the steers, and also upon the buying and sell- 

 ing price. 



Age is the most important factor in controlling the rate 

 and economy of gain. Young animals make more rapid and 

 economical gains than mature steers. This difference is very 

 marked. The investigations of the earliest and most thor- 

 ough of experimenters, Lawes and Gilbert, show that approx- 

 imately 12 to 13 pounds of dry matter is required to produce 

 a pound of gain on a fattening steer of mature age, and later 

 investigations generally confirm this, though some experi- 

 ments have shown that a pound of gain may be produced 

 from about 11 pounds of dry matter. 



Careful experiments at different stations in the United 

 States show that younger animals make much more econom- 

 ical gains than the above. Results at the Iowa Station with 

 animals from 1 week to 24 months in age, gave the following 

 significant results: 



First three months 1 pound gain for each 1.7 pound 

 dry matter. 



Eighth month 1 pound gain for each 4.6 pounds dry 

 matter. 



Seventeenth month 1 pound gain for -each 5.97 pounds 

 dry matter. 



From twentieth to twenty-fourth month 1 pound for 

 ach 9.02 pounds dry matter. 



Experiments at other stations show similar results. 



The rate of gain is also greater in young animals. Many 

 experiments have shown this, and the records of the first 

 prize winners at the Chicago Fat Stock Show, from 1878 to 



