Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1910-03-15
AMONG THE FARMERS,
4" SPEED THE PLow."

correspondence on practical agricultural topic
is solicited. Address all communications In
tended for this department to HENRY
HAMMOND, Agricultural Editor Oxford Dem
ocrat. Paris. Ne.
The Pure.Bre VS.. the Scrub Steer
Abstract Of paper by Henry Prentiss Armsby
before the Pennsylvania State Board OF Agrt
culture, Harrisburg, Pa, Jan. %. 1910
The United States is already begin.
ming TO feel the pressure OF population
upon the food supply and warnings are
being heard that the food problem OF
the future is in danger Of becoming
acute. Along with more efficient farm.
ing methods which shall increase crop
yields, an equally important factor in
averting that danger is the conservation
of what we produce. One important
method of such conservation is more
extensive use of ineoible by-product
feeds for domestic animals, thereby
directly utilizing them for brman food
.. tho edible products of the soil for
mans direct use.
Stock feeding on this basis, however,
requires a much higher degree of skill
and knowledge than the traditional
methods hitherto practiced. In order
to increase our stock of knowledge upon
this subject, the Institute of Animal
Nutrition of the Pennsylvania State Col
lege with the cooperation of the Bureau
of Animal Industry of the United States
Department of Agriculture, is engaged
in study of the general laws governing
the conversion of feed, and particularly
of by product feeds, into animal products.
1t is seeking to determine the extent of
the necessary losses in the process and
how these losses may De reduced to the
lowest possible point.
Obviously, one important factor in the
problem is the efficiency of the animal
as a converter, and for three years ex-
periments have been carried on to de-
termine the relative efficiency OF the
pure bred as compared with the scrub
steer as meat producer.
Two animals were used in the expert
ments. One, pure bred Aberdeen-An-
gus, was typical beef animal, while the
other was scrub more or less distinctly
Of the dairy type. Beginning when the
animals were about eight months old,
they were under observation for over
two and a half years, during most Of
which time they were fed good growing
rations.
During three successive winters, exact
numbering twenty-four in
all, were made to determine the extent
Of the losses incurred in converting the
feed into meat or, in other words the
efficiency of the animals. The first step
in the comparison was a determination
Of the digestive capacity, which showed
that the two animals digested their ra-
tions to almost exactly the same extent.
In the first two years there was very
slight apparent advantage on the side OF
the scrub and in the third year on the
side of the pure bred animal, but the
were scarcely large enough
to be significant. Furthermore, expert
ments with the respiration calOrimeter
showed that not only did the two steers
digest their feed to the same extent, but
that the percentage of the energy of the
iigested feed which was utilized in the
body, either for purposes of maintenance
Or for the production of meat and fat,
was substantially the same in the two
In other words, pound of
Jiigestible food or unit of energy sup
piled in excess of that required to main
tain the animal was about equally we'll
utilized by the two animals. In brief,
then, the conversion of surplus food to
meat and fat was effected with equal
economy by the two animals, the pure
bred animal showing no superiority over
the scrub either in digestive power or in
the utilization of the digested food.
On the other hand, very important
difference in favor of the pure bred ami
NAL was found in the maintenance re-
quirements. Computed to the same
live weight, the scrub steer required
about 20 per cent more feed for simple
than did the pure bred ami
NAL. In other words, while the scrub
was able to convert his surplus feed
into meat as economically as the pure
bred, he had smaller surplus remain
ing out of a given amount of total feed
because he used up more of it for the
simple running of the body machinery.
The difference in maintenance require
ment appears to have been due to the
more nervous temperament of the scrub
aud his greater restlessness as compared
with the more phlegmatic temperament
of the pure bred animal.
A significant difference was also found
in the feeding capacity. The pure bred
animal was able to consume and utilize
heavier rations than the scrub. The
heavier the ration of an animal, however,
other things being equal, the larger is
the proportion of it which can be used
for productive purposes, since the main
teuance requirement remains the same.
Accordingly, the pure bred animal was
able TO make a more economical use Of
his total feed than did the scrub. This
was especially marked in the third years
experiment when the animals we're fat
tening rather han growing.
These statements are in apparent CON-
with the fact that, as has been fire.
quently observed in such experiments,
the rate of growth Of the scrub, as meas
ured by the gain in live weight during
the two and half years, was fully as
great as that of the pure bred and re-
quired no greater weight of feed to pro-
duce it. The experiments seem to show
quite clearly however, that this dis
crepancy is due to the fact that pound
of gain in live weight contained con-
more actual food value in the
case of the pure bred animal than In
that of the scrub, the difference being
largely in the percentage Of water. In
other words, the scrub put more water
into his gain than did the pure bred ami
NAL and consequently was able to make
as large gains in live weight
from the same food.
The important difference in the pro-
portions Of the different cuts in the two
types of animals and their effect upon
the market values of the two animals,
which were not considered in these e1,
periments, constitute an additional ad-
vantage on the side of the we'll bred ami,
NAL.
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