54 LIVESTOCK ON THE FARM 



the percentage of maintenance becomes. Suppose an animal 

 requires 2 pounds of feed for maintenance. If it is fed 2 

 pounds it will not grow or make gains at all. Suppose then 

 it is fed 4 pounds. It will then have 2 pounds of feeds for 

 growth. But, if you feed it 2 pounds more you will increase 

 the ration by 50 per cent., and you will increase the productive 

 part of the ration by 100 per cent. This is an important 

 principle that should not be forgotten. 



Size. — In feeding farm animals and especially the meat- 

 making animals, size is of considerable importance. By size 

 is meant the possibilities indicated by the animal itself or by 

 its ancestors. The large steer, large sheep or large hog are 

 not the most desirable kinds on the market. But the matter 

 works out like this: A 200-pound hog, which is one of the 

 popular kinds on the market, can be made more quickly and 

 more economically from 600-pound ancestry than from 300- 

 pound ancestry. The younger an animal the more econom- 

 ically it produces its gains in live weight and the more rapidly 

 it grows. This is true because it eats the most, in relation 

 to its size, at this time. The machine also is in the best work- 

 ing order. It is true, however, that a small, rapidly growing 

 animal does not put on so many pounds a day, because it is 

 small, as a larger animal that does not grow quite so rapidly. 

 This makes it possible to be able to feed animals beyond the 

 babyhood stage. 



To consider further, it is admitted without any hesitation 

 that animals grow till they are mature and then stop growing. 

 This stoppage in their growth is not sudden but gradual. 

 Therefore, the closer to maturity an animal is fed the more 

 slowly it grows and, therefore, the larger is the part of its 

 feed which goes to maintenance. The principle applies to 

 cattle and to sheep as well as to hogs. And it is clearly evi- 

 dent that the size of the breeding stock from which we produce 

 our meat-making animals is a factor of considerable magnitude. 

 Heavy draft horses, also, are worth more per pound than light 

 draft horses. 



Inheritance. — Animals are not made in a year or in a 

 generation. It takes a long time to breed and develop a 

 really good type. The characteristics of the parents are 



