MEAT PRODUCTION 451 



lessened utilization of the digestible matter or a combination 

 of the two. Whether this diminution, within the limits of the 

 animal's capacity to consume feed, is sufficient to offset the 

 economic advantage of such increased consumption remains to 

 be shown, although Morgen 1 reports experiments on sheep in 

 which very heavy rations actually produced smaller gains in 

 live weight than lighter ones. Finally it should be remembered 

 that it is the actual gain of chemical energy by the animal which 

 is believed to bear a tolerably constant relation to the feed en- 

 ergy. It has been repeatedly pointed out that the gain in live 

 weight is a very uncertain indication of the amount of energy 

 stored up. It is quite conceivable that the larger gain to be 

 expected on the heavier ration may contain less water and more 

 dry matter or less protein and more fat than that produced on 

 the lighter ration, and that consequently the increase in weight 

 may not be proportional to the increase in feed. In that case, 

 unless the higher quality of the gain were recognized by the 

 market, the economic advantage attached to heavier feeding 

 would be diminished or wiped out. 



533. Proportion of concentrates to roughage. The fore- 

 going considerations apply in the first instance to varying 

 amounts of the same mixture of feeding stuffs. In the case of 

 herbivora, however, heavy feeding must necessarily be effected 

 by increasing the proportion of concentrates or of roots to 

 roughage, the higher cost of the former per unit of net energy 

 being more than offset by the economic advantage incident to 

 the much larger amount which can be consumed. When such 

 an addition of concentrates contains a large proportion of 

 carbohydrates (as in the case of maize or roots) it would appear 

 (724) that the digestibility of the rations would suffer to a certain 

 extent owing to the low protein content of the ration, while 

 common observation indicates a more rapid passage of the 

 feed through the digestive tract of heavily grained ruminants 

 and suggests a decrease in total digestibility which has not, 

 however, been experimentally confirmed. 



534. Standards. It is clear from the foregoing that under 

 ordinary conditions mature or nearly mature fattening animals, 

 such as the cattle ordinarily fattened in the United States, 

 should be fed as heavily and pushed as rapidly as the capacity 



1 Futterung und Schlachtergebnisse, pp. 22 and 33. 



