156 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



value of livestock production in the cane-sun:ar and cotton districts. 

 This work, which was ho<i;un in 11)14, is carried on under the direction 

 of a committee consistin<^ of representatives of the liureau of Plant 

 Industry, the Bureau of Animal Industry, and the Louisiana State 

 Experiment Station. 



During the year 330 acres of land were usetl for feed production. 

 At the close of the fiscal year there were on the farm 7 hrood mares, 

 6 mature mules, 15 mules bred at the station, 45 dairy cattle, 130 beef 

 cattle, and 121 hogs. 



The application of barnyard manure to the fields has continued 

 to increase the yields of crops, and preliminary experiments begun 

 in 1919 indicate that commercial fertilizers have an important use in 

 increasing the productivity of the uni)roductive soils. Cottonseed 

 meal applied at the rate of 200 pounds to the acre increased the yield 

 of corn 8.03 bushels an acre and gave a net profit of $C.41 over the un- 

 fertilized plots. An application of 200 pounds of cottonseed meal and 

 100 pounds of acid phosphate to the acre increased the yields of corn 

 8.88 bushels an acre with a net profit of $6.36 per acre. Acid phos- 

 phate applied at the rate of 100 pounds to the acre increased the yield 

 of corn 4,97 bushels per acre and returned a net profit of $6.54. 



The animals were inoculated twice during the year for anthrax, a 

 disease prevalent in this section, and no outbreak occurred. P'orage 

 poisoning was also successfully combated liy keeping the animals off of 

 pasture when poisoning was prevalent. 



Additional data have been obtained in the experiment to determine 

 the maintenance cost of a beef brcVding herd and the cost of produc- 

 ing beef breeding heifers and feeder steers. The average cost of 

 raising a heifer calf to 2 years of age was $52.68, and to the age of 30 

 months $74,03, wliile the average cost of a feeder steer w^as $38.31 at 

 1 3'ear of age, and $56.24 at 2 years. These steers were then fattened, 

 and the average total cost per steer when shipped to market was 

 $110.12. As the net selling price per steer was $118.63, the net profit 

 on each steer was $8.51. The fourth year's results of feeding experi- 

 ments with beef cows showed the j^early cost of maintenance to 

 be $44.85. 



During the last three j^ears experiments have been under way to 

 test the relative values of the available silage crops for fattening 

 steers when supplemented wnth cottonseed meal and other concen- 

 trates. During the last fiscal vear seA''en lots of steers were fed for 

 112 days on various silage crops suited to the coastal region, supple- 

 mented with cottonseed meal and molasses. Five kinds of silage were 

 fed with the same amount of the supplemental feeds, and in addition 

 other lots of sorghum and Japanese-cane silage were fed with a large 

 amount of supplements, namely, about 10 per cent more cottonseed 

 meal and more than twice as much molasses. Those lots of sorghum 

 and Japanese cane which w^ere fed with the regular amount of sup- 

 plements are here designated as No. 1, aind the others as No. 2. 

 Sorghum silage No. 2 produced the greatest average daily gain per 

 steer, 3.13 pounds, followed by the others in the following order: 

 Corn, sorghum No. 1, Egyptian wheat, corn and soy bean, Japanese 

 cane No. 2, and Japanese cane No. 1. In returns per ton of silage fed 

 the silage ranked in the following order: Corn, $6.15; Egyptian 

 wheat, $5.63 ; sorghum No. 1, $5.38 ; corn and soy bean, $5.27 ; sorghum 



