21 



reduction being $1.43 and $1.48 per 100 pounds gain as corn was 50 

 cents or 40 cents per bushel respectively. The fact should not be 

 lost sight of, however, that both corn and corn silage are lacking in 

 protein and that some nitrogenous concentrate must be fed in con- 

 nection with them in order to reduce the cost of making gains. 



FINISH. The finish on the cattle is really the deciding factor 

 in any ration. A few cents advance or decline in the selling price of 

 fat cattle may very easily overcome a great difference in the cost of 

 gains, because the gains are not a large per cent, of the total weight 

 of the cattle if mature steers are used for feeding. Neither is the 

 total gain an absolute index of the selling price of the cattle for 

 it has often been observed, that the same number of pounds gain 

 made from different rations may result in a great difference in the 

 finish of the cattle. For this reason the finish secured on the cattle 

 is of great importance in determining the value of a ration. 



The effect of the different rations upon the finish of cattle is 

 shown by Table IV, which gives the selling values of the cattle in 

 the feed lots at the end of the feeding period and after a short 

 feeding period. 



TABLE: IV. Showing Selling Value of Cattle at End of Feeding 

 Trial and at an Earlier Period in the Experiment 



