364 Feeds and Feeding. 



second summer without fattening, the effort should be to grow as 

 large a framework as possible the second winter, leaving the animal 

 thin but thrifty, Mumford writes:^ "The more cattle gain on con- 

 centrated feeds in winter the less they will gain on grass in summer. 

 That is to say, if corn is fed liberally during the winter months the 

 cattle will not make as large gains when turned to grass as they 

 would were they wintered on roughage, and not the best roughage 

 at that" (502) 



Where cattle are to be fattened on pasture the summer following 

 the second winter, a reasonable storage of fat toward the close of 

 winter and in early spring will helpfully shorten the summer feed- 

 ing period. In such cases feed liberally during the last of winter 

 and in early spring with clover or alfalfa hay and silage rich in ear 

 corn. These with a moderate grain allowance will warm the animals 

 up, start fattening, and send them to grass in prime condition to 

 make the most of the heavy feeding of grain which follows. 



570. The fattening ration. — It is well to avoid an excess of pro- 

 tein with the fattening animal. Animals in thin flesh should at first 

 be liberally supplied with protein in order that their muscular tissues 

 may develop. For such animals, Kellner- holds that the nutritive 

 ratio should be about 1 : 6, with from 12 to 15 lbs. of digestible nu- 

 trients daily per 1000 lbs. of live weight. (142) Experiments have 

 shown that mature animals can be successfully fattened on much less 

 crude protein than is set down in the Wolff-Lehmann Standards. 

 Kellner^ found that the gains of the mature ox remained unchanged 

 whether 1 lb. of protein was fed with 4 or with 16 lbs. of carbohy- 

 drates, the total quantity of nutrients remaining the same. In such 

 ease the quantity of fat formed was in proportion to the nutrients 

 digested in excess of the wants of the body. However, where less 

 digestible protein is fed than 1 lb. to 8 or 10 lbs, of carbohydrates, 

 the digestibility of the ration may be decreased. Kellner accordingly 

 suggests that for mature fattening cattle the nutritive ratio should 

 not be wider than 1 : 10 or 12. In regions where alfalfa hay or other 

 nitrogenous feeds are abundant and low in price and the carbohy- 

 drates relatively high in cost, it may be profitable to feed a ration 

 with a narrow nutritive ratio. 



571. The fattening process. — Fat is concentrated fuel energy 

 stored as surplus in the animal's body against the time of need. Im- 

 pelled by a hearty appetite, under liberal feeding the steer at first 

 lays on fat rr„pidly, storing it everywhere within the body — among 



^ Beef Production, p. 46. ' Loc. cit., p. 418. 



- Ernahr. landw. Nutztiere, 1907, p, 420. 



