NORMAL. GROWTH OF RANGE CATTLE 
9 
weeks, but they were too few in number and were not weighed fre- 
quently enough to form the basis for drawing conclusions. 
Figure 4 shows that the average gains were rapid early in the season 
and gradually diminished in rate as the season advanced, but con- 
tinued on the average until the last weighing in the fall; as a rule about 
the last week in September. On the basis of this curve one would 
expect the gains to cease about the middle or last of October. 
The curves for the different years as shown in Figures 1 to 3 bring 
out the same general facts with slight variations, depending probably 
on a variety of factors. 
In Table 11 are shown the variations in the gains made in the 
different years, in both pounds and per cent. The results for the 
different years compare very favorably. The animals making the 
lbs. / 
50 
45 
k 
%«> 
\35 
%30 
K 
\" 
\20 
^ /o 
% 
K 5 
WEEKS 
5 6 7 a 9 
/O // /2 /3 /4 /5 
Fig. 4, 
-Average gains of all cattle used in the nine years, 1916 to 1924, inclusive. The gains are shown as 
percentages of initial weight 
VARIATIONS IN GAINS 
smallest or largest gains in pounds are not necessarily those making 
the poorest or best gains when figured as percentages of the initial 
weight. An animal having a small initial weight may make a large 
percentage gain which does not mean so much in pounds as the smaller 
percentage gain made by a large animal. The smallest gain in 
pounds was 160 made by a yearling steer; the poorest showing, when 
figured as per cent of initial weight, was made by a 3-year-old steer. 
Both these animals were of the 1924 group. 
The largest gain was 381 pounds made by a 2-year-old steer in 
1920, an increase of 65.5 per cent over the original weight. One ani- 
mal in the 1917 group made a gain of 336 pounds, which was 49.4 
per cent of its original weight. Another weighed 342 pounds on 
June 19 and 584 pounds on September 28, making a gain of 70.8 
per cent. The average gains for the different years varied between 
212 pounds in 1924 and 303 pounds in 1920. Stated in terms of 
