LABOR AS A FACTOR 35 



bedding, attending to water, and looking after the wants 

 of steers affected with injuries, lump-jaw, lice, and itch. 

 With this assumption as a basis the following statement 

 is possible : 



Man, 6 mo. at $40 (wages $25, board $15) $240.00 



Team and wagon, 6 mo. at $40 (maintenance 



5, feed $25) 240.00 



Total cost labor 6 mo $480.00 



Cost per steer 2.40 



Suppose, again, that we are feeding two carloads of 

 steers in such a way that a man and team can do the 

 necessary work in two hours daily in connection with 

 morning and evening chores. If we charge this time at 

 25 cents per hour, it amounts in six months to $90 for, 

 say, 40 cattle, or $2.25 per head. If the arrangements 

 are such that the same outlay for labor will accomplish 

 the feeding of 60 steers, the cost per head will be $1.50, 

 and if but 30 head require the same labor, then the cost 

 will be $3 per steer. These figures enable us to name 

 the approximate labor bill in common winter feeding as 

 from $2 to $2.50 per steer, and it is understood of course 

 that, other conditions being equal, the greatest efficiency 

 of labor can be obtained in feeding large numbers of 

 cattle. In comparing these statements with the returns 

 from hogs, we may turn to the results of some feeding 

 experiments. In one case where 53 pigs followed 130 

 steers in ten different lots, the return in pork at $5 per 

 cwt. varied from 31.5 cents to $5.57 per steer, the aver- 

 age being $2.48. In another test, with pigs following 

 meal fed steers, the conclusion was reached that, properly 

 managed, the pig may return a credit of approximately 

 $2.00 to each steer fed. The pigs in another ex- 

 periment, involving 200 steers fed 94 days, made gains, 

 which, calculated at $5 per cwt., amounted to $1.20 per 

 steer, which may be considered the equivalent of twice 

 that amount for a six-months' period. In still another 

 test where 250 steers were used the pigs yielded a net 



