COST OF BEEP. 271 



increase in sale price of $45.12. He estimated the cost of 

 food, besides straw, at $20 per head, and the actual cost of 

 labor at $4, leaving $20.12 to pay for straw and profit. In 

 other years the cost and sale price of the cattle were differ- 

 ent, but the result was nearly similar. This ration seemed 

 to have the same effect upon the cattle as the most succu- 

 lent grass, and produced a gain nearly equal to the most 

 favorable pasturage at the best season. Mixing pulped 

 turnips with other food, and steaming, diffused the odor 

 through the mass, rendering the food so palatable that the 

 animal ate with a zest to the limit of its digestion. It 

 will be noted in this case that the total dry substance of 

 all the food taken is only 28 Ibs., which is only 9.33 Ibs. of 

 dry food to 1 Ib. gain, instead of 12K Ibs., according to 

 Lawes' formula. Is this the result of cooking rendering 

 so much larger percentage of food digestible? It will be 

 observed that the quality of the food is hardly as good as 

 that fed by Mr. Johnston. But there is another element 

 to be taken into account that of a warm stable which 

 would reduce the food required to sustain animal heat. 

 Both of these facts may perhaps account for the difference. 

 The author has some cases to give of his own feeding. 

 He bought 40 head of small cattle, of two and a half and 

 three and a half years old, that had been fed so poorly that 

 they were very light for their age, and, although healthy, 

 many of them were in an unthrifty condition. The aver- 

 age weight of the lot was only 850 Ibs. They were placed 

 in a warm stable, and fed for sixty days before they got 

 into a thrifty condition. During this sixty days they 

 gained on an average only 35 Ibs. per head. They were 

 then put upon the following average ration for 90 days : 

 oil-meal, 2 Ibs.; wheat middlings, 4 Ibs.; corn-meal, 6 Ibs.; 

 hay, 5 Ibs.; straw, 11 Ibs., per head per day. The oil-meal, 

 corn-meal and bran were mixed with the short-cut straw, 

 and all thoroughly steamed together. This was given in 



