FEEDING GRADE BEEF COWS RAISING CALVES, 15 
3. Unless cows which do not settle within 3 or 4 months after 
calving are replaced by bred cows or heifers, the breeder loses for 
the following reasons: 
A smaller calf crop each year. 
A laek of uniformity in the ages of the calves. 
A greater labor, feed, and equipment cost if the calves are dropped in 
the fall or winter. 
Greater inconvenience and cost in handling when all the calves do not 
come in one season. 
It seems advisable for farmers raising grade beef calves to use as 
many 2-year-old heifers as they can produce or purchase at a reason- 
able cost. Heifers raise good calves and at the same time make a 
considerable gain in weight if they are fed properly. When the 
calves are weaned the heifers can be fattened, sold, and replaced by 
more 2-year-olds. This gain in weight by growth can not be obtainéd 
in the case of aged cows. 
II. COSTS OF THE RATIONS AND OF RAISING CALVES TO WEAN- 
ING AGE. 
The following comparisons are made to see which is the cheapest 
of the various rations used in the experiment, and especially to see 
with which one the calves were produced most cheaply. 
PRICES USED. 
For the purpose mentioned it is necessary to fix the prices for feeds 
on the farm. This is the most questionable and unsatisfactory part 
of such experimental work, especially for the last few years, during 
which unusual fluctuations have occurred in feed prices. On account 
of these fluctuations and also for simplicity in making the various 
calculations, an average of the feed prices for the three years is used, 
as follows: 
ECL SUTURES ccc Se al al ae per ton__ $6. 00 
ree eia ye e at bla Se eer A doze 18. 00 
Sy peep [yep ie 2 tal een te ale ea Edom. AOO 
CON RUSS 2/00 0127) ES i Pine Fis neers Saal do-__ 2950500 
Weaent Nitaw 22 wig a tl Yast  n Pe dO. 25) (ea 
DE aeENeer = ee lrE he e eS ee do_ 70g 
IMME Mee i TT do.22— Tho 
[228015 poe em per bushel_= 96 
eran ee ee ee me per day-— sue 
The foregoing figures are based on the average farm prices of corn 
and hay from 1910 to 1919, as given in the Yearbook of the United 
States Department of Agriculture, for the States of West Virginia, 
Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
North Carolina. 
