FEEDING FOR MEAT 369 



The largest amount of digestible nutrients fed daily 

 to each animal at any time during this experiment was 

 about 17.5 pounds, after the animals had reached an 

 average weight of 1,200 pounds or over. This would be 

 approximately 14.5 pounds digestible organic matter 

 for each 1,000 poimds live weight. 



These two experiments are instances of successful 

 feeding where the increase was rapid and very satis- 

 factory and where the quantity of digestible nutrients 

 supplied daily was greatly below 18 pounds for each 1,000 

 pounds live weight. 



It is concluded, from observation and a study of the 

 results of experiments, that under proper conditions 8 

 to 10 pounds of dry coarse food and 15 to 18 pounds of 

 grain is all that can generally be fed with greatest profit 

 to a steer actually weighing 1,000 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. If considerably smaller 

 steers are fed, the ratio of food to weight may be increased, 

 but if the animals are several hundred pounds heavier 

 the ratio may be materially diminished. It is safe to 

 accept as a general principle the rule that the larger the 

 animal the less the proportion of food to weight. The 

 fixing of the quantity of a fattening-ration directly in 

 proportion to the size of the animal is a simple and quite 

 convenient rule, but is utterly impracticable and is so 

 recognized at present in the standards for growing ani- 

 mals, and should be in all estimates and proportions. 



465. The selection of a fattexiing-ration.— Two con- 

 ditions already mentioned that are of the highest impor- 

 tance should not be forgotten, viz., that the ration should 

 be palatable and be composed of a variety of easily diges- 



