COST OF BEEF. 269 



with him the thrifty habits of a good farmer in his native 

 country, placed a higher value upon the manure from fat- 

 tening cattle than did the American farmers around him. 

 He wished to produce all the manure he could for his 

 wheat crop, and thus resorted to the purchase of cattle 

 every year to be fed upon his straw and corn fodder, with 

 grain as the principal staple of the food. Knowing the 

 value of linseed oil-cake, he fed this with Indian corn-meal, 

 to make a well-balanced ration, with straw and a portion 

 of hay. "When Mr. Johnston put up a lot of three-year- 

 old steers to feed, he began with 2 Ibs. of oil-cake and 3 to 

 5 Ibs. of corn-meal, and this was increased gradually to 4 

 Ibs. of cake and 8 to 10 Ibs. of corn-meal. Sometimes 

 wheat bran or pea-meal was substituted for a part of the 

 corn-meal, and in this way he gave variety in the diet, 

 which is very essential to steady thrift. He found, practi- 

 cally, that this mode of feeding would give him an increase 

 of from 1% to 3 Ibs. per head per day, depending upon 

 breed and thrift. Good grade Short-horns would occasion- 

 ally make even more than 3 Ibs. per day for 150 days, but 

 this rate of gain was exceptional. His average was about 

 2^} Ibs. per day for many years. He sold on an average, at 

 two cents per pound more than the purchase price. He 

 commenced feeding some time in October, and sold in 

 March. If the steers weighed 1,000 Ibs. at the time of 

 purchase, and the price was $4 per hundred, they cost $40 

 per head; and at the end of 150 days would, as an average 

 result with him, weigh 1,318 Ibs., and bring six cents, or 

 $79.08 nearly doubling in value. He fed of oil-cake an 

 average of 3K Ibs. per day, or 525 Ibs. per head ; of corn- 

 meal, 9 Ibs., or 1,350 Ibs.; of hay, 8 Ibs., or 1,200 Ibs.; of 

 straw, ad libitum, or 1,500 Ibs. Counting these at average 

 rates of the last 18 years would give: Oil-cake, $9.18; 

 corn-meal, $13.50; hay, $6 (straw not counted); in all, 

 $28.68. This would leave $10.40 to pay for labor and straw, 



