84 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



difference, that while the latter may lie down in comfort in 

 an open shed, the former would shiver subjected to like con- 

 ditions. 



Development and decadence. In the life of all animals 

 there is a time when possible production reaches a max- 

 imum, after which it gradually decreases. That time is when 

 they have reached the meridian of bodily vigor and capacity 

 to produce, which does not always mean that period when 

 bodily growth ceases, as is shown below. Decadence more 

 or less gradual at once begins, howsoever perfect the man- 

 agement may' be. The moment that such decadence begins, 

 the profitableness of the animal begins to grow less, as pro- 

 duction grows less with decrease in the food of maintenance. 



The immediate cause of such decadence is the changed 

 and continuous changing character of the nutrition. Waste 

 of tissue is more than the assimilative powers can repair 

 and expended energy is more than the forces that generate 

 energy make good. Later, the teeth begin to fail and when 

 they do, digestion suffers proportionately, first from inability 

 to take enough food, and second from inability to properly 

 masticate what is eaten. 



The age at which such decadence begins varies with 

 breeds. Usually the longer the time occupied in maturing, 

 the more deferred is the beginning of decadence. It is also in- 

 fluenced by excessive performance and insufficient nutrition. 

 The over-worked horse, the cow whose digestive machinery 

 has been driven at a high speed through heavy grain feeding 

 and long continued, and the brood sow kept producing 

 twice in the year, will all begin to decline at an earlier age 

 than if the system in each instance had not been thus over- 

 taxed. The meridian of vigor is reached when the animal 

 has reached fullest maturity. This in one sense is reached 

 when further increase in weight ceases, but in another sense 

 it is not until the limit is reached of greatest possible pro- 

 ducton. The latter comes later than the former. The farm 

 horse may cease to increase in weight after the fourth year, 

 and the same may be true of the dairy cow, and yet the labor 



