The  Cost  of  Winter  Grazing  in  East  Norfolk.  89 
Outlay. 
The  greatest  average  outlay  in  fattening  was  111.  16s.  lOii., 
and  the  least  in  all  the  returns  was  11.  5s.  5d.  The  former  lot 
of  bullocks  cost  13Z.  to  buy  in  and  gained  IH.  per  head  on  sale, 
after  having  been  kept  for  twenty-eight  weeks,  a loss  of  16s.  lOt^. 
per  beast.  Those  that  cost  least  to  fatten  had  cost  IIZ.  10s.  10c?. 
each  to  buy  in,  and  gained  71.  per  head  on  sale  after  having 
been  grazed  for  thirteen  weeks  at  a cost  of  ll^c?.  per  day,  or 
11.  5s.  5d.  for  the  whole  period.  They  thus  showed  a net  gain 
of  21.  14s.  Id.  The  daily  rations  of  the  former  lot  were  168  lb. 
of  roots,  2 lb.  of  linseed  cake,  2 lb.  of  cotton  cake,  ^ peck  of 
barley  meal,  the  same  of  bean  meal,  and  1 lb.  of  hay  ; whilst 
the  latter  had  120  lb.  of  pulped  roots,  6 lb.  of  cake,  .3  lb.  of 
bean  meal,  and  7 lb.  of  chaff. 
Comparing  those  bullocks  on  my  list,  whose  daily  food  cost 
the  most  with  those  whose  food  cost  the  least,  I find  that  stores 
at  14?.  each  that  were  kept  for  twelve  weeks  at  a cost  of  18jc?. 
a day  sold  for  71.  gain,  or  a net  profit  of  11s.  9(?.  per  head.  The 
detail  of  their  feeding  has  been  previously  given,  see  No.  6, 
Table  II.,  page  88. 
Stores  bought  at  13?.  15s.  and  kept  for  twenty-six  weeks  at 
6|c?.  per  day  gained  71.  8s.  apiece  on  sale,  and  left  a satisfactory 
balance  of  21.  3s.  2c?.  each.  They  had  during  the  above  period 
been  given  a daily  ration  of  3 lb.  of  straw  chaff,  3 lb.  of  long 
hay,  3 lb.  of  cotton  and  linseed  cake  mixed,  and  120  lb.  of 
pulped  roots,  totalling  129  lb.  I may  say  that  this  lot  of 
bullocks,  contrary  to  general  practice,  were  given  mangold  and 
swedes  mixed  from  the  first. 
Many  feeders,  in  computing  their  profit  on  grazing,  merely 
compare  the  price  at  which  they  buy  in,  with  that  at  which 
they  dispose  of  their  bullocks,  not  taking  any  account  of  the 
time  they  stood  out  of  their  money,  or  of  the  cost  of  keeping 
the  beasts.  There  is,  however,  evidence  of  the  fact  that  long 
ago  winter  grazing  was  known  to  be  an  uncertain  business, 
witness  the  saying  that  “ three  good  root  crops  in  succession 
will  ruin  any  farmer.”  The  meaning  of  this  proverb  is  that  a 
plethora  of  roots  causes  an  unusual  demand  for  stores,  and  so 
runs  up  their  price.  It  follows  from  the  extra  large  numbers 
of  stores  put  up,  that  fat  cattle  are  over  produced  with  a conse- 
quent fall  in  the  selling  price  of  beef. 
According  to  the  forty  selected  returns,  the  average  net 
gain  per  beast  for  winter  grazing  works  out  at  a fraction  under 
half-a-guinea,  but  taking  only  those  thirty-two  forms  which 
I selected  as  being  the  more  especially  reliable,  this  profit  is 
reduced  to  a fraction  over  8s.  8(?.  Whilst  gathering  informa- 
tion by  conversation  for  the  purpose  of  this  investigation,  I 
found  that  graziers  generally  scorned  the  idea  of  the  net  profit 
