282 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, DAIRYING, ETC. 



pasture to the full limit of cows producing calves, and he will realizes 

 on the calves twelve months from date of birth. 



The Economy of Gain at Different Ages Compared. It is a 

 well-established principle in animal nutrition that young animals 

 make more economical gains than older ones, and that the amount 

 of feed required for a given gain increases as the age of the animal 

 advances toward maturity. 



Comparatively few practical feeders are aware of the marked 

 variation due to the operation of this law. Experiments are recorded 

 where gain has been made at the rate of 1 pound of increase in live 

 weight for each pound of dry matter in the feed consumed. (Arms- 

 by's Manual of Cattle Feeding.) This was made with calves under 

 three weeks of age. The ration consisted of 17.6 pounds of milk per 

 head daily with 3.9 pounds of cream added. 



In an experiment conducted at the Iowa Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station (Bulletin No. 25, p. 24, Iowa Experiment Station), a 

 gain of 1 pound of increase in live weight was obtained from each 

 1.97 pounds of dry matter in the feed consumed. This experiment 

 covered a period of ninety days, beginning when the calves were 

 about one week old. The ration consisted of separator skim milk, 

 supplemented with corn, oats, and oil meal, and in addition a mod- 

 erate allowance of hay. For the first eight months it required 4.6 

 pounds of feed (dry matter) for a pound of gain, and for the first 

 seventeen months it required 5.97 pounds of feed for a pound of 

 gain, and for a period of two years the amount of feed required for 

 a pound of gain had increased to 7.19 pounds, and during the last 

 four months the amount of feed per pound of gain ran up to 9.02 

 pounds. In another experiment, recorded in Bulletin No. 24 of the 

 Iowa Station, five steers were finished for market at the age of 32 

 months, and it required 10.4 pounds of feed for a pound of gain 

 at this age. Director Thorne and Professor Hickman have presented 

 a summary of results (Bulletin No. 60, Ohio Station), obtained at 

 the stations in eight States, covering 132 head of cattle ranging in 

 age from 2 to 3 years, in which it is shown that it has required on an 

 average 10.24 pounds of feed (dry matter) for a pound of gain, 

 while the work done by Lawes and Gilbert along this line indicates 

 an average of about 11 pounds of feed per pound of gain on cattle 

 approaching maturity. 



These results have been repeatedly verified by many other careful 

 experiments, not only with cattle, but with sheep and hogs as well, 

 and the law of diminishing returns for feed consumed as animals 

 advance in age toward maturity is conclusively established, and gov- 

 erns the economy of gain in all practical as well as experimental feed- 

 ing. This law should be kept constantly in mind by the meat pro- 

 ducer. Economy of production is one of the important factors in 

 the practical problem of determining profit, and the advantages are 

 all with the young and growing animal as compared to the one that 

 has practically attained its growth. In comparing the cost of gain 

 made by pure-bred Shropshire lambs and pure-bred Shropshire year- 

 lings at the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, it was found 



