General Problems in Beef Production. 



329 



for a given gain stands charged to one of the beef type. From the 

 data, covering 8 feeding trials at 5 stations, we are unable to 

 show that a pound of feed goes further in making gai«i with beef- 

 bred animals than with those not especially bred for that purpose. 



515. Early maturity. — The most common claim for superiority 

 with the beef breeds is that animals so bred mature earlier than oth- 

 ers. Consulting the figures given in the next table, we find that 

 steers of the strictly dairy breeds reached as heavy weight in a given 

 time as did several of the beef-bred representatives. Holstein steers 

 made substantially as large daily gains as any of the others, and Jer- 

 sey and native steers rivaled the Devons. So far as the data go, we 

 have no evidence that beef-bred animals make more rapid growth 

 than do others. The degree of maturity of the animal as a producer 

 of beef is not wholly measured, however, by weight, so that this di- 

 vision of the subject cannot be considered as entirely covered by the 

 data here presented in regard to daily gain. 



516. Dressed carcass. — The animals of the various breeds, whose 

 feed requirements for 100 lbs. gain are reported in Article 514, on 

 being slaughtered showed the following percentages of dressed car- 

 cass to live weight: 



Daily gain and dressed iveight of steers of different breeds. 



Limits 



of dressed 



weight 



Av. 



dressed 

 weight 



Hereford 



Red Poll 



Aberdeen-Angus 



Swiss 



Short-horn 



Galloway 



Devon 



Ayrshire 



Sussex 



Holstein 



Jersey 



Native 



Per cent 

 63.0-68.0 

 63.^-66.5 

 63.2-69.0 

 64.8 



62.1-68.0 

 62.0-66.7 

 62.5-65.8 



60.6-64.4 

 58.7-63.9 

 57.9-61.5 



Per cent 

 65.0 

 65.2 

 64.8 

 64.8 

 64.4 

 63.9 

 63.6 

 63.3 

 63.0 

 62.6 

 60.5 

 60.2 



The data referring to live weight at the time of slaughter and 

 daily gain from birth have already been discussed. Let us now 

 consider the dressed weights of cattle of the several breeds. The 

 Red Polls gave the largest percentage of dressed carcass to live 

 weight, but the figures are the average for 2 animals only, and the 

 best of these is lower than the best of the representatives of 5 other 



