GROWING AND FITTING CATTLE FOR EXIIIlilTION 315 



In the two-year form, on the return from the fairs, 

 the grain fed should be reduced to the extent of nearly 

 50 per cent of the amount previously fed, and this re- 

 duction should continue, as in the case of the one-year- 

 old cattle, until April or May. As with the former, also, 

 about four weeks should be consumed in leading up 

 again to the maximum amount of concentrates to be fed 

 during the remaining months of feeding. The propor- 

 tions, as in the case of finishing animals in the one- 

 year form, will be: Oats, 35 per cent; bran, 20; corn 

 or peas, 35 ; and oilcake, 10. If more of fatness is wanted, 

 the corn or peas may be further increased, but this will 

 seldom be found necessary. The amount of concen- 

 trates consumed will be a little more than i pound for 

 each 100 pounds of live weight in the animals, which 

 means heavy feeding, as, when finished, they should 

 weigh from 1,700 to 1,800 pounds. 



Roots fed at different ages. — If young cattle are to 

 make the greatest growth which it is possible to secure 

 from them, they must be given a certain proportion of the 

 food in the succulent form. Succulence favors correct 

 digestion, and thus promotes correct development, and it 

 also influences juiciness in the meat. In summer suc- 

 culent foods may easily be obtained through pasture 

 or soiling sources, but in winter their chief sources are 

 field roots and silage. 



If succulence is fed as roots only, or as silage only, 

 the former is the superior food of the two for such feed- 

 ing, but its superiority decreases with advance in the 

 age of the animals. In roots the elements of nutrition 

 are more perfectly adjusted to the needs of young 

 animals, and they have a more beneficent influence on 

 the digestive organs. But to furnish variety, and for 

 other reasons, after calfhood is passed, both may be fed 

 with higher advantage than either alone. Rutabagas 

 and mangels are chiefly fed, but, in their absence, turnips 

 or sugar beets may be substituted. 



