18 



OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 187 



COST OF GAINS. 



TABLE V Food consumed; gains produced; cost of gains. 



The cost of one pound gain in live weight by each of the lots is 

 shown in Table V. The figures apply only to the market conditions 

 which prevailed for this test, so are not nearly so widely applicable 

 as are the data concerning the amount of feed consumed by each 

 lot to produce 100 pounds gain. The author is thoroughly convinced 

 that too important a place is often given to the cost of gains when 

 discussing the results of a feeding experiment, thus rendering 

 more probable a wrong understanding by the student, or feeder. 

 When feeders and experimenters think, reckon and write concern- 

 ing feeding experiments with amount of feed and rate and extent of 

 gain in live weight, rather than with cost of feed, animals and gains 

 and net profit from the operation as the factors for comparisons, it 

 will be reasonable to expect more intelligent selection of rations and 

 consequently fewer failures to secure satisfactory returns for feed 

 and labor required to conduct feeding operations. 



TABLE VI Cost of gains as affecting cost of fat lambs.* 



