MEAT PRODUCTION 437 



i.e., its rate of growth as defined on previous pages. If this is 

 rapid, as, for example, in the improved breeds of swine especially 

 and to a somewhat less extent with cattle and sheep, it may be 

 practicable to begin the fattening almost from birth, the innate 

 tendency to growth assuring sufficient size and weight by the 

 time good marketable condition is attained. To secure this 

 result, however, it is necessary to use rations containing large 

 amounts of easily digestible feed in a small bulk and such 

 rations are necessarily comparatively expensive. Moreover, 

 growth as well as fattening requires an expenditure of feed 

 energy, and as appeared in Chapter XI (473-476) a not incon- 

 siderable one. The capacity of an animal to consume feed, how- 

 ever, is limited and when a relatively young animal is put on 

 full feed, the more growth he makes the less feed will remain for 

 fattening. This corresponds with the experience of practical 

 feeders that mature animals will reach a higher condition in a 

 given time than the young ones. 



Under present economic conditions, as a rule, only the best 

 grade of animals having to a high degree the quality of early 

 maturity can be profitably handled in the way just indicated. 

 With animals inferior in this respect, the more economical pro- 

 cedure usually is a period of growth upon comparatively cheap 

 rations, consisting to a considerable extent of roughage, followed 

 by a relatively short period of intensive fattening, beginning, 

 however, before the capacity for growth has been entirely lost. 

 The economy lies, of course, in the possibility of supporting 

 growth and maintenance upon relatively cheap feeds during 

 the longer time necessary in the case of inferior animals and 

 will depend to a large extent upon the relative costs of feeding 

 stuffs. The actual feed cost of the fattening itself is likely to 

 be about the same in either case. 



For the individual who raises and fattens his own animals, 

 then, it would appear to be economical, so far as the feed cost 

 is concerned, to use as early maturing animals as possible and 

 to push them so as to fit them for market at as early an age 

 as they are capable of. 



When, however, as is notably the case in beef production, the 

 rearing of animals and their fattening for market are in dif- 

 ferent hands, other important economic considerations enter 

 in to modify this conclusion. In this case the business of 



