COST OF GAIN. 265 



mixed food, per 100 Ibs. live weight, per week ; and they 

 should give 1 Ib. of increase for 12 to 13 Ibs. dry substance 

 so consumed. In other words, there will be consumed from 

 120 to 130 Ibs. of the dry substance of such mixed food per 

 1,000 Ibs. live weight per week, producing on the average 



10 Ibs. of increase; and 1,200 to 1,300 Ibs. will therefore 

 be required to yield 100 Ibs. increase in live weight. If 

 the mixed food contain no straw chaff, and only a moder- 

 ate amount of hay chaff, the average amount of dry sub- 

 stance consumed will be the less, and the average propor- 

 tion of increase the more, or vice versa. Accordingly, we 

 have assumed that on a liberal mixture of oil-cake, clover 

 chaff, and swedes, as little as 1,100 Ibs. dry substance may 

 be required to produce 100 Ibs. increase, and as much as 



11 Ibs. increase may be produced per 1,000 Ibs. live weight 

 per week. The articles which you are accustomed to speak 

 of as dry foods, still contain some water. Thus cakes con- 

 tain from one-eighth to one-ninth, and corn, hay and 

 straw about one-sixth of their weight of water; while 

 swedes do not contain more than 10 to 12, or mangolds 

 more than 12 to 13 per cent, of really dry or solid matter ; 

 but the monster roots of which we hear so much, some- 

 times contain only about two-thirds as much dry matter as 

 moderately-sized and well-matured roots should do. Of 

 really dry substance, such as my estimates given above 

 require, 1,200 to 1,300 say 1,250 Ibs. would, in round 

 numbers, be supplied in the following amounts of each of 

 the several descriptions of food enumerated, supposing 

 them to be of fair average composition in that respect : 



Amount of each food containing 1,250 Ibs. dry matter: 



Cakes . 12% cwt. 



Cornorhay 13 



Swedish turnips 5 tons. 



Mangolds , 4>^ " 



" The question arises, what would be the cost of 1,250 Ibs. 

 of dry substance, made up of a suitable mixture of these 

 12 



