188 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



That linseed meal is capable of supplying what corn and prai- 

 rie hay lacks is readily apparent when we note the marked increase 

 in daily gains effected by its use. Each year the steers fed lin- 

 seed meal took on a more thrifty appearance, as indicated by the 

 coat of hair a few weeks after the experiments were begun. They 

 ate their grain with greater relish, and when on full feed consumed 

 somewhat more grain, which, of course, partly accounted for the 

 increased gains. This was especially noticeable in the short period 

 of heavy grain feeding in 1905-06, when the steers were crowded 

 with grain throughout that entire period, the oil-meal steers tak- 

 ing 5.5 pounds of grain per day in excess of the lot not receiving 

 it. However, in the two previous experiments, when both lots were 

 purposely kept on the same amount of grain per day for t"he first 

 three months, the linseed-meal steers, particularly the yearlings 

 in 1903-04, gave much larger gains. It will be noted also that 

 much less grain was required to make a pound of gain each year, 

 the average for the three years being 23 per cent less. This Is 

 equivalent to saying that four pounds of corn with linseed-meal 

 produced as much beef as five pounds without linseed-meal. With 

 corn averaging 35.7 cents per bushel and linseed-meal $28.33 per 

 ton for the three years, the cost of producing one pound of gain 

 was'10.7 per cent less by the use of the linseed-meal. The experi- 

 ments show the urgent need of some protein concentrate with corn 

 and prairie hay, providing its cost is not too great. Had the aver- 

 age cost of the linseed-meal been $45.00 or more per ton for the 

 three years, there would have been no advantage in using it. 



PROTEIN CONCENTRATES COMPARED. 



Having shown the importance of using with corn and prairie 

 hay a small quantity of some protein concentrate, in this case lin- 

 seed-meal, we next compare three protein foods, commonly sold in 

 Nebraska, viz., wheat bran, linseed-meal and cottonseed-meal. 

 Gluten feed, a by-product in the manufacture of starch, glucosi% 

 etc., from corn, would have been included in these tests if the cost 

 of freight from eastern factories were not such as to make the 

 price of this food prohibitive for stock feeding purposes here. Just 

 as soon as starch and glucose are manufactured in quantity in this 

 section, gluten feed will, no doubt, become a formidable competitor 

 of the protein foods mentioned. Owing to the lower protein con- 

 tent of wheat bran, this food was made 25 per cent of the grain 

 ration, whereas linseed-meal and cottonseed-meal were each made 



