IO8 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



to give fully as good results as corn and oil meal 

 or cottonseed meal fed with timothy hay or corn 

 stover. The animal that has enough protein in its 

 food and is young enough to make a good growth, 

 will finish better, and will not become " patchy " 

 when fattened, like one that is fed on a less nitrog- 

 enous ration. 



FEEDING INFLUENCED BY AGE 



The age at which animals are fed strongly in- 

 fluences their powers of assimilation. The younger 

 the animal, in general, the less the cost of gains. 

 Prof. H. R. Smith says that in six different trials 

 when accurate records were kept of gains and cost 

 of food, it was found that during the first 12 months 

 each 100 pounds increase in live weight cost $3.45 ; 

 during the second 12 months, $11.50. At the Illi- 

 nois experiment station at the beginning of an ex- 

 periment, calves averaged 384 pounds, yearlings 

 784 pounds and two-year-olds 1,032 pounds. The 

 net cost of 100 pounds of gain was $4.10 on calves, 

 $5.60 on yearlings and $6.60 on two-year-olds. The 

 profit in beef production, however, consists not 

 alone in the increased weight of the animal, but 

 also in the enhanced value of the original carcass. 

 Thus, if an 8oo-pound animal costs 4 cents a pound 

 and after being fattened sells for 5 cents a pound, 

 there is a profit of $8 on the original carcass. Where 

 meat animals are grown for market, the greatest 

 profit will nearly always be found in fattening as 

 young as possible. If western animals are to be 

 fed, however, it will often be found more profitable 

 to feed the larger ones as long yearlings and two- 

 year-olds, on account of the greater margin afforded 

 by the heavier original weight. 



