FARM ANIMALS. 



133 



The steer maintains a practically uniform rate of gain 

 from birth until two years old. The cost of the gain in 

 the second period is 50 per cent greater than in the first ; 

 in the third period twice that in the first ; and in the 

 fourth period three times that in the first. These thor- 

 oughly established facts should be taken into considera- 

 tion by the stockman when deciding at what age to mar- 

 ket his cattle. Beef cattle are most profitable when 

 marketed betw-een the ages of one year and two and a 

 half years. 



100 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. II. 1200 u-u : 

 Relation Between Daily Gain in Weight and Age in Days. 



Dairy type versus beef type. The Minnesota Ex- 

 ])erimcnt Station has definitely proven that the produc- 

 tive capacity of the cow depends more upon type and 

 conformation than upon size or breed. By testing a 

 large number of cow^s it was found that those of the beef 

 type produced butter fat at a cost of 17}^ cents a pound, 

 while the spare cows having deep bodies produced butter 

 fat at a cost of 12.1 cents a pound. 



