289 



Table II shows that during the first 90 days of the test the steers 

 in the "short fed" lot made a greater daily gain per head than those 

 in the "long fed" lot. It also shows that the gains in the "long fed" 

 lot decreased as the period progressed, which is usually true when 

 cattle are given a full feed of grain for any considerable length of 

 time. During the first 90 days the "short fed" steers gained an aver- 

 age of 3.16 pounds per head daily and the "long fed" cattle, 2.71 

 pounds, showing a difference of .45 pound daily in favor of the 

 heavier cattle. The total amount of corn necessary in finishing each 

 steer in the "long fed" lot was 54.6 bushels, while in the "short fed" 

 lot it was 34.0 bushels. This accounts largely for the demand for 

 heavy, fleshy feeding cattle when corn is high. The cost of gain was 

 cheaper in the "long fed", lot during the first 90 days than it was in 

 the "short fed" lot. However, this condition is reversed when the 90 

 day period for "short fed" cattle is compared with the 180 day 

 period for the "long fed" cattle, showing that it cost less per hundred 

 to finish fleshy feeders than it did to finish thinner and lighter feed- 

 ers and make them equally fat. The table also shows that the neces- 

 sary margin between the buying and selling price was 48 cents per 

 hundred for the first 90 days, or 16 cents per month in the "short 

 fed" lot and 50 cents per hundred or 16.6 cents per month in the 

 "long fed" lot. For the six months period the margin necessary was 

 $1.05 per hundred, or 17.5 cents per month, where the long feeding 

 period was used. This is based upon corn selling at 40 cents per 

 bushel, which was slightly above the average market value for the 

 first 90 days of this test. An increase in value of 16 cents per hun- 

 dred for each month would have made it possible during the winter 

 of 1906-7 to feed cattle under the conditions prevailing in the "short 

 fed" lot, or 16.5 cents per month during the first 90 days and 17.5 

 cents per month during the 180 day period in the "long fed" test. 



