Feeding Standard for Fattening Steers 345 



promoted, and observations show, in many instances, 

 that an appearance of greater thrift and vigor is thus 

 induced, which is probably due to the stimulating effect 

 of the greater amount of circulatory protein upon the 

 metabolic processes of the animal. With young steers 

 making some growth of bone and muscle, a small 

 quantity of a protein food is of unquestioned advantage. 

 The German standard for fattening cattle is open 

 to criticism as to the quantity of nutrients recommended 

 for 1,000 Ibs. of live weight. In order to supply 18.4 

 Ibs. of digestible organic matter it would be necessary 

 to feed, for instance, 8 Ibs. of hay and 21.5 Ibs. of an 

 ordinary mixture of corn meal, bran and oil meal. 

 While it may be possible to induce young steers weigh- 

 ing from 600 to 800 Ibs. to eat at this rate for a short 

 time, so large a ration is seldom, if ever, so profitable 

 as a smaller one, even if it could be fed with safety. 

 If an attempt was made, however, to apply this form- 

 ula to mature steers weighing from 1,300 to 1,500 Ibs. 

 the situation would become absurd, because the ration 

 would then be from 10.5 to 12 Ibs. of hay and from 

 25 to 32 Ibs. of mixed grains for a single animal. 

 An appeal to concrete examples of steer feeding will 

 clearly show the excessive requirements of the German 

 standard for fattening cattle. In 1891 to 1893 the 

 Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station conducted 

 feeding experiments with three -year -old steers, and 

 as these are good examples of practical management, 

 the data from them will serve to illustrate the point 

 under discussion. These data are stated in a tabular 

 form: 



