25O PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



The finishing period in a feed lot should include 

 special attention to the needs of each individual 

 animal. By this time the individual differences in 

 feeding capacity will have manifested themselves, 

 so that it may pay to divide a lot into two or more 

 pens and feed each lot according to the apparent 

 needs. A farmer fattening two or more carloads 

 of cattle may by this means be able to dispose of 

 one lot several weeks in advance of the second. 

 During the finishing period a little more protein 

 may be added to the ration than during the middle 

 part of the feeding season. It will generally pay 

 to add linseed meal to the feed at this time in rather 

 liberal proportions. The beneficial effects of this 

 feed will be seen in several ways. One effect is 

 that, being a feed extremely rich in protein, 

 it will tend to counteract the tendency of corn to 

 produce excessive fat in patches. It will tend 

 toward the formation of some muscular tissue along 

 with the fat formation, and thus add quality to the 

 meat. Its effect upon the digestion is also a de- 

 sirable feature. In the advanced stages of feeding, 

 the difficulty is to maintain suitable gains in profit- 

 able proportions to the amount of feed used. By 

 the use of oil cake at this time, the animal's diges- 

 tion is kept in better condition, and gains are made 

 for a longer period than would otherwise be 

 possible. 



In feeding cattle, from two to three pounds of 

 linseed meal a day can be given at this time, pro- 

 viding the animals are gradually accustomed to its 

 use. It would, of course, be disastrous to introduce 

 this amount of oil meal into the ration suddenly if 

 they had previously been receiving none. Another 

 effect of feeds of this character which will be quite 

 noticeable is its effect upon the external appearance 



