404 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



the proportion of cost to be charged against the dam will 

 be materially less. By the second method, they are reared 

 essentially on skim milk and adjuncts, the adjuncts con- 

 sisting chiefly of concentrated foods and high class fodders. 

 Baby beef from this source will be scarcely equal to that 

 from calves that were suckled by their dams, but it will be 

 made more cheaply, as none of the cost is to be charged 

 against the dam, since maternity in her case was necessary 

 to bring her into milk, and its cost, therefore, would have 

 to be incurred, regardless of what would become of the 

 calf. 



The grain during the milk period in the case of hand- 

 reared calves, ought to contain not less than 33 per cent 

 of fattening food, such as corn, barley or rye from the 

 first, when the fodders are leguminous, and this propor- 

 tion should be materially increased, for several months 

 previous to the disposal of the animals. Where non-legu- 

 minous fodder must be relied on, the protein equivalents 

 being purchased, as oil cakje and such foods, the cost of 

 production will be materially increased. The necessity for 

 an ample supply of protein when growing such meat is well 

 brought out in an experiment conducted by the Nebraska 

 experiment station in 1904. When yearling steers were 

 fed alfalfa and corn, the daily increase was 1.97 pounds. 

 When fed prairie hay and corn it was 1.35 pounds. The 

 net profit with the former was $8.66, with the latter 38 

 cents. The test covered a period of six months. 



Winter lambs. By winter lambs is meant lambs that 

 are born, say from November I onward until mid-winter, 

 and are pushed forward rapidly in their growth and are 

 then sold while yet suckled by their dams. The aim should 

 be to have them fill the place in the market between the 

 time of abundant fowl consumption at the Christmas season 

 and the ordinary season for selling early spring lambs. To 

 bring the relatively high prices usually paid for them, they 

 should be made plump and fat and to reach 40 to 50 

 pounds in live weight at the age of 60 to 80 or 90 days. 



