basis of steers weighing 750 pounds. It is true that some of 

 this was wasted, mainly because of the presence of weeds, 

 etc., but as the hay was of average quality and that portion 

 refused was worthless except for bedding, it is fair to charge 

 the entire amount fed, so long as it was not fed wastefully. 



On this basis, it would require for a six months' winter- 

 ing period, or from November 1st to April 30th, 3285 pounds 

 of hay, for which, as has already been pointed out, we 

 we should have an increase of 54 pounds in the live weight 

 of the animal. Estimating hay at $6.0O per ton,' we have a 

 charge of $9.85, and a credit, at 5 cents per pound, which is 

 low enough for gains made in winter, of $2.70, due to gain 

 in live weight, leaving a net deficit of $7.15 per head, 

 chargeable to the cost of wintering, or practically $1.00 per 

 hundred pounds of weight of the steer. This means that if 

 the steer had been purchased at 4 cents a pound in the fall, 

 and wintered on timothy hay alone, he would have to bring 

 5 cents a pound at grass to merely balance accounts. This 

 is on the assumption that the labor saved by feeding the 

 hay at home over baling and hauling it to a local shipping 

 point would on the average fully offset the labor of feeding 

 and caring for the animal. 



In other words, as will be shown in more detail else- 

 where in this bulletin, the making of gains in winter are ex- 

 pensive, even when what has always been supposed to be 

 cheap material like hay is used exclusively, and that what 

 the feeder calls the margin of profit, which is so essential in 

 the fattening of cattle, is likewise essential in making profit- 

 able gains when animals are lightly fed in winter. 



That this margin of profit is necessary to balance ac- 

 counts in full feeding operations, has been clearly shown in 

 a large number of feeding experiments and is well establish- 

 ed in practical experience. It has not generally been em- 

 phasized, however, that this law applies in the case of cattle 

 which are being wintered on what has been popularly sup- 

 posed to be very cheap material, like coarse fodders and 

 hays, or when given in addition to this coarse material a 

 limited amount of grain, making what has always been pop- 

 ularly considered cheap gains. 



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