88  The  Cost  of  Winter  Grazing  in  East  Norfolk. 
In  the  following  table  we  get  the  comparative  cost  of  food 
of  six  lots  of  animals  bought  in  at  the  same  price  : — 
Table  II. 
Prime  cost 
No.  of  weeks  kepi 
Cost  per  day 
Net  gain  or  loss 
£ 
d. 
£ s. 
d. 
1.  14 
24  • 
9* 
Gain  111 
1 
2.  14 
24 
Ilf 
Loss  0 17 
7 
3.  14 
22 
14 
Loss  2 10 
9 
4.  14 
20 
lOi 
Gain  0 17 
9 
5.  14 
18 
Loss  1 3 
0 
6.  14 
12 
18i 
Gain  0 11 
9 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  first  and  second  lots  of  beasts  differ 
very  much  as  regards  profits  made.  We  find,  in  the  case  of 
No.  2,  that  their  food  cost  11.  I7s.  Id.  more  than  that  of  No.  1, 
which  goes  far  towards  explaining  this.  The  food  supply  of 
the  third  lot  was  evidently  far  too  dear,  whilst  the  cheapness 
of  the  rations  supplied  to  the  fourth  lot  allowed  of  a margin 
of  profit.  Lot  No.  5 were  too  expensively  fed,  while  the  short 
time  that  No.  6 were  kept  enabled  them,  though  costing  so 
much  more  per  head  per  day,  to  show  a balance  on  the  right 
side. 
Best  and  Worst  Returns. 
The  best  return  made  to  me  showed  an  average  sale  gain 
per  beast  of  3Z.  19s.  Id.  The  average  price  of  the  stores  was 
121.  They  were  kept  for  twenty-two  weeks,  receiving  mean- 
while per  day  135  lb.  of  roots,  4 lb.  of  linseed  cake,  and  7 lb. 
of  hay  and  chaff,  at  a total  cost  of  &l.  Os.  8rf.  per  head.  They 
averaged  221.  apiece  on  sale. 
The  worst  return  sent  in  was  as  follows  : Cost  of  stores, 
14/.  each.  They  were  kept  for  twenty-two  weeks  at  an  average 
cost  of  9/.  10s.  9c/.,  their  food  consisting  of  135  lb.  of  roots, 
5 lb.  of  linseed  cake,  4 lb.  cotton  cake,  3 lb.  bean  meal,  and 
7 lb.  of  hay  and  chaff  daily  ; the  result  being  a loss  of  21. 
10s.  9(/.  per  bullock.  Comparing  these  two  returns,  we  find 
that  the  two  lots  of  bullocks  were  kept  for  the  same  time  and 
received  the  same  quantity  of  roots  ; one  lot,  however,  had 
twice  as  much  artificial  food  as  the  other,  and  yet  finished  off 
6/.  10s.  2d.  per  head  the  worse.  This  result  suggests  that 
either  the  12/.  stores  were  most  advantageously  bought  and 
sold,  and  were  of  better  quality  to  start  with,  or  that  the  14/. 
beasts  were  both  over-kept  and  over-fed.  There  may  have 
been  some  mistake  in  the  figures  given  me,  but  I am  certain 
that  those  who  filled  up  these  two  forms  both  believed  that 
the  figures  which  they  laid  before  me  actually  represented 
what  their  bullocks  had  respectively  cost  them. 
