Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1891-12-19
Earua &Htttsets,
Food per Hundred Lbs. Live Weight.

EDITORS COUNTRY GENTLEMAN
Have you any records of experiments
in feeding cattle for beef, or in other
words can you approximate the num-
Der of bushels of corn required to
make 100 Id. of beef or put one hun
bred pounds of flesh on a steer and
the same of hogs and mutton sheep?
j. r., Trenton, N. j.
Mr.. II. will see that it must cost
much less in food to put 100 lbs. on Il
young animal than 100 lbs. on a
mature animal, whether it be steers,
sheep or hogs. In other words, the
cost of growth is less, the younger the
animal-and this cost constantly in
creases with age and weight until
maturity. There are very few eX-
periments which lay down all the
facts necessary to decide Us question.
But from his using corn as the food,
he must mean merely the feeding
during the fattening stage. Sir J. B,
Lawes, probably the best scientific
and practical authority in England,
on questions relating to meat produc-
ton, read an elaborate paper be-
fore an agricultural association in
1879, in which among other things,
he estimated that it required $3.50
lbs. of dry food, made up of various
kinds, to produce 100 ID. growth up,
on a steer, and he speaks Of this RAJ
ton as composed of a moderate pro.
portion of cake and corn GRAIN some
hay or chatf, with roots or other sue.
culent food, well,managed, etc." His
estimate of l24 lbs. of dry substance Of
food, to lib. gain, is no doubt an APP
Proclamation of the facts of feeding in
England and this country, although
we have known of cases where the
foods have produced a higher result
According to this estimate, about 45C
lbs. of fodder and $50 lbs. of maizt
would, as an average, produce 100 lbs
of live weight in a steer. This would
give little more than lbs. to TIT
bushel of corn, not counting the othe
fodder. This is large estimate
applied to results of feeding corn il
the ear in the open field.
The late John Johnston Of Geneva
n. Y, for many years fed steers t,
produce manure for his great whea
crops, and his averages for man.
years are seen in the following: T.
each steer generally of 1000 lbs
weight on purchase) he allowed 70
$50 days feeding, 3! lbs. per day o
525 lbs. oil meal; of corn meal, lbs
or 1850 lbs; hay, lbs. or 1000 lbs
straw, q lbs. or $50 lbs. His averag
gain was 3l6 lbs, and it will be see
that it required u lbs. of these ms
terials for ID. gain, or a close az
Proclamation of Lawes' estimate, bu
he fed only about lbs. com to tn
pound gain.
Mr.. Otis S. Lewis, of Orleans Co
n. Y, fed for several years lots {
cattle bought at the cattle yards ,
Buffalo, selected in half fat cond
ton, and he used to feed an averag
ration like the following: 5 lbs. ni(
clover hay, Is lbs. cut straw, 8 ID
corn meal, 25 lbs. pulped Swede tu
nips. His cattle usually weighe
when put up l, $50 lbs, and at II
end of 100 days came out with II
weight l $50, or they gained 8 lbs. pr
day. The total dry substance in tn
ration is only % lbs, and was ther
fore only 1888 lbs. Of dry food to l |
gain, instead of l2l. But it must |
stated that Mr.. Lewis not only fed
warm stable, cattle watered in sta
and never turned out, but the ratio
was all mixed together, steamed ar
fed warm and greatly relished by Il
cattle, while Mr.. Johnston fed in
cold stable, and cattle ran in the va
apart of the day.
But if we take the standard ratio
of corn and corn fodder for Guido
feeding, we find that 20 lbs. of co
in the ear is just about an average
what is fed to 1000 or 1200-lb. stet