t EAKLY MATURITY. 129 



is always dependent upon its food for its quality of flesh. 

 Although one animal, from its constitution, has greater 

 power of utilizing its food elements, and of selecting or 

 rejecting different elements than other animals of the same 

 species, yet it cannot elaborate or utilize what is not there. 



EARLY MATURITY. 



Having found that the animal must depend primarily 

 upon its aliment for growth and quality, the next impor- 

 tant consideration is how this aliment should be given 

 whether the growth should be slow or rapid should take 

 the longest natural period required by a scanty diet, or the 

 shortest possible attainment of maturity under the most 

 judicious and skillful feeding. That we may form a safe 

 opinion upon this question, it is requisite to examine some 

 of the circumstances attending growth and maturity. 

 While the animal is young and immature, its appetite, 

 digestive and assimilative functions are most active; and 

 these functions grow less and less active after maturity. 

 After the period of perfect development, the natural habit 

 of the animal is to eat and digest only so much as is neces- 

 sary to supply the waste of its tissues ; and, consequently, 

 its weight remains nearly stationary. Another most im- 

 portant point is, that while the animal is young, and in an 

 active stage of growth, the percentage of waste in its sys- 

 tem is much less than at and after maturity. The food of 

 support, or what is necessary to supply the constant waste 

 of the system, and keep the animal without loss, has accu- 

 mulated to a large item at maturity. It then becomes very 

 clear, that the interest of the feeder requires that the short- 

 est possible time should be given to the growth of an ani- 

 mal intended for food. It must be evident that in careless 

 and unskillful feeding the cost of simply supplying the 

 waste of the system during four years' feeding of steers 



