390 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



When animals become thus ripe, it is self-evident that 

 further feeding, viewed from the standpoint of increase, 

 will be done at a loss, hence the wisdom, under normal 

 conditions, of putting them on the market promptly when 

 they are ripe. When animals are being fattened, the in- 

 crease as a rule is less rapid as the fattening period ad- 

 vances, and the cost of making increase continually ad- 

 vances. In fattening steers at the Kansas experiment station 

 for 182 days, it was found that during the first 56 days, 730 

 pounds of food were required to make 100 pounds of gain, 

 while for the whole period 1,000 pounds were required tc 

 make the same. At the Wisconsin experiment station, swine 

 that were being fattened made 100 pounds of gain during the 

 first four weeks from 418 pounds of food, during the second 

 four from 461 pounds, and during the third four from 

 559 pounds. The average weight at the commencement was 

 222 pounds. In an experiment conducted by the author in 

 fattening swine, at the Ontario experiment station, 1890-91, 

 it was found that during the experiment proper which 

 covered 90 days, the cost of making 100 pounds of increase 

 was $4.65. The swine were then regarded as finished, but 

 they were fed for 47 days longer on the same kind of a 

 ration. During this period, the cost of making 100 pounds 

 of increase was $14.93. The average weight of the swine, 

 when the experiment proper began, was 150 pounds. If 

 such feeding is continued long enough, increase will entirely 

 cease, and in time retrogression will begin, on the principle, 

 that after ripeness, deterioration begins. 



Prominent among the indications of ripeness are a good 

 covering of flesh on parts more usually bare, firmness of 

 flesh as indicated by resistance to gentle pressure in the 

 muscles of the body, and a plumpness of form which reveals 

 a finished condition to the practiced eye. The weight scale, 

 of course, is the surest indicator of that decrease or cessation 

 of growth that accompanies ripeness and the service that it 

 may thus render when used judiciously may be very sub- 

 stantial. 



