258 PRODUCTIVE FEEDING OF FARM ANIMALS 



feeding stuffs (concentrates or roots). With a wider ratio than 

 1 : 10, there will be a depression in the digestibility of the nutrients, 

 and lower results will be obtained than if the ration contained a 

 larger amount of protein (p. 69). It was formerly believed that 

 the protein in the feed was the source of fat in the body, but it has 

 now being established, mainly through the investigations of German 

 scientists, as well as by the results of practical tests, that the carbo- 

 hydrates of the feed are the main sources of the body fat; protein 

 has not, therefore, the importance in the feeding of fattening ani- 

 mals as was previously taught, and the Wolff-Lehmann standards 

 for fattening cattle are now largely of historical interest only: 

 They call for more protein and narrower nutritive ratio than neces- 

 sary, as well as for excessive amounts of total dry substance and 

 digestible nutrients, as has been shown by Jordan. 2 According to 

 the latter authority, it seems evident that " under proper condi- 

 tions 8 to 10 pounds of dry coarse feed and 15 to 18 pounds of 

 grain are all that can generally be fed with greatest profit to a steer 

 actually weighing 1000 pounds, and may be even more than is 

 utilized by the animal to the best advantage. Such a ration would 

 supply about 16 pounds of digestible organic matter." 



Rate of Increase. — The rate of increase is more rapid in young 

 than in older animals; it is also most rapid in the early stages of 

 the fattening, and gradually diminishes toward the close of the 

 period, when the animals reach the condition known as " finished." 



The rate of gain calculated from statistics covering feeding 

 experiments " with more than 50,000 cattle of different ages " is 

 given as follows by Wilcox : 3 



Average Daily Gain in Young and Old Cattle. 



%-year-old 2.3 pounds. 



1%-year-old 2.09 pounds. 



2%-year-old 1.58 pounds. 



3y 2 -year-old 1.44 pounds. 



4%-year-old 1.2 pounds. 



The cost of 100 pounds gain produced with calves was $4.98; 

 yearlings, $7.23 ; two-year-olds, $7.45 ; three-year-olds, $13.75. 



The cheapest returns in gain in body weight for the feed eaten 

 are obtained with young animals, because the nutritive processes 

 are especially active in young life and a larger proportion of the 

 increase is water in these animals than in mature ones. Accord- 

 ing to Professor Smith, of Minnesota Agricultural College, a two- 



1 " The Feeding of Animals," p. 345. 



'"Country Life in America," July, 1905; see also N. M. Bui. 91, p. 

 92; S. D. Bui. 125. 



