194 Missouri AcjriculUiral Report. 



In the matter of daily gains, the linseed-meal seems to have 

 the advantage in the first experiment with prairie hay, and the 

 alfalfa in the second experiment with corn-stover. An average 

 gain of two pounds per day for an entire fattening period is ordi- 

 narily considered good. The gains made on both rations in the 

 two experiments reported are, therefore, very gratifying, particu- 

 larly the average gains made for a period of twenty weeks in the 

 second experiment. The fact that one lot of ten two-year-old 

 steers gained 2.33 pounds each per day for a period of five months 

 with unshredded corn-stover for roughness and no hay of any kind 

 is added proof of the high feeding value of this by-product, so com- 

 monly wasted in Nebraska. 



While the linsesd-meal ration shows its superiority over the 

 alfalfa combination in making larger daily gains during one ex- 

 periment, the use of alfalfa without linseed-meal made the gains 

 less costly in both. The alfalfa fed steers in the first experiment 

 sold for the same price per hundred as the linseed-meal steers. 

 In the second experiment the alfalfa steers sold for $5.65 per hun- 

 dred, while the linseed-meal steers sold for $5.50 the same day. 



With corn costing 35 cents per bushel and prairie hay $6.00 

 per ton, the alfalfa hay proved to be worth $13.11 per ton in com- 

 parison with linseed-meal costing $32.00 per ton. In the second 

 experiment with corn worth 36 cents per bushel and stover valued 

 at $2.50 per ton, the alfalfa returned a value of $13.12 per ton in 

 comparison with linseed-meal at $29.50. From these figures it is 

 apparent that alfalfa possesses a high value as a source of protein. 

 The experiments, furthermore, suggest that a relatively small quan- 

 tity of this hay will supply sufficient protein to insure good gains 

 en two-year-old steers, and that this can be produced on the farm 

 much cheaper than it can be purchased on the market in the form 

 of linseed-meal or some other protein concentrate. 



PRAIRIE HAY AND CORN-STOVER COMPARED. 



In the comparison of linseed-meal and alfalfa, first when used 

 with corn and prairie hay, and second with corn and stover, the 

 reader is not to draw any conclusions as to the relative value of 

 prairie hay and stover, because they were fed during different 

 years under dissimilar conditions. Following is a direct compari- 

 son of these two hay plants, one year with linseed-meal supple- 

 menting the corn, another year with alfalfa forming half the rough- 

 ness with each, and a third comparison with each roughness fed 

 with corn alone : 



