34 BEEF PRODUCTION 



The fact that it is a variable factor does not make a 

 fairly accurate determination of it in any given instance 

 impossible. If, however, we grant the fact that it is a 

 variable factor it seems but reasonable to grant that the 

 statement, that the fertilizer produced by the cattle 

 balances the labor, is not, at best, a very accurate or 

 exact one. The summer fattening of cattle on grass is 

 economical of labor as compared with winter feeding in 

 the dry lot. The self-feeder lessens labor, whether used 

 in summer or winter. In feeding large numbers of 

 cattle, labor can be economized to much better advantage 

 than in feeding small numbers. Stall fattening or stable 

 feeding as compared with open shed sheltering involves 

 a large amount of labor. Again, the relative location of 

 feed, water supply, and cattle and the conveniences for 

 getting the feed to the cattle are all important factors. 



In this discussion the writer has charged to the cost 

 of the feed the expense of its preparation. That is, 

 where corn is reduced to meal the expense of reducing 

 the corn to meal is charged to the meal and not to the 

 labor involved in feeding the cattle. Likewise chaffing 

 hay, where practiced, may be, and is here, added to the 

 price of the hay. In this way the labor involved in 

 distributing the feed to the cattle is the item under con- 

 sideration. 



Experimental evidence relative to this subject is 

 wanting; in fact, records of labor involved in the feeding 

 of experimental cattle would be of little value, as the 

 feeding of cattle in small lots and the recording of 

 accurate weights of cattle and feed entail a large amount 

 of labor that is in ordinary practice eliminated. For 

 the purpose of securing a definite basis from which to 

 work, we may assume what has been repeatedly accom- 

 plished in practice, that one man and team, or their 

 equivalent, can care for and feed 200 cattle together 

 with the hogs following. This includes not only feeding 

 the grain, but also hauling hay or other roughage to 

 the feed lot from nearby stacks or mows, providing 



