16 The Bulletin. 



quantities it is likely to produce scouring, which all practical feeders 

 know is fatal to profitable feedino-. 



If the cattle are receiving an abundance of dry roughage slightly 

 larger quantities of cotton seed may frequently be used to advantage, 

 but as a general rule we would not advise the use of more than 5 or 6 

 pounds per day to a steer weighing 800 to 1,000 pounds. 



At present most of the seed produced in North Carolina is put in 

 the ground direct, as fertilizer, or disposed of to tlie oil mills at an 

 average of not over $15 per ton. 



At current prices for commercial fertilizers a ton of seed is worth 

 about $15 when put in the ground direct. When fed to cattle it is 

 worth $16,66, if corn is worth 40 cents per bushel. But when fed, at 

 least two-thirds of its original fertilizer value, or $10.00 worth of plant 

 food, is obtained in the stable manure, so a ton of cotton seed, when 

 fed on the farm, has a total value of not less than $25. It is, there- 

 fore, evident that no cotton seed should leave the farm for less than 

 from $25 to $30 per ton. At any lower price all the seed should be 

 fed to cattle. 



COTTON-SEED MEAL. 



Everything considered, we probably possess in cotton-seed meal 

 the best, because the cheapest, cattle feed known to the cattle-feeding 

 world. Therefore, the grain ration for beef cattle should be so com- 

 pounded as to permit of the use of the largest possible amount of this 

 feed. In fact, in practical commercial feeding the concentrated feed 

 must be largely, if not entirely, made up of cotton-seed meal and 

 cotton seed. A ration such as this, which lacks variety, is very much 

 improved by succulence in some form, and for this reason silage is 

 especially valuable in the feeding of beef cattle when cotton-seed 

 products constitute the greater part of the grain ration. Considera- 

 tions of economy make it necessary to feed larger quantities of cotton- 

 seed meal than the accepted scientific principles of feeding would 

 permit, but by the use of corn stover and silage for roughness, which 

 furnish succulence and a large amount of carbohydrates, the greater 

 part of the concentrates may be made up of cotton-seed meal with 

 safety and economy. 



Thousands of tons of cotton-seed meal are put into the soil of North 

 Carolina every year, either as pure meal or in commercial fertilizers. 

 When thus used it has a value of not far from $25 per ton. When 

 fed to cattle it is worth $25 per ton if corn is worth 40 cents per 

 bushel, for a pound of cotton-seed meal is worth a pound and three- 

 quarters of corn for cattle-feeding. But when a ton of cotton-seed 

 meal is fed, at least $16 worth of plant food may be obtained in the 

 manure, which, added to the feeding value, which is not less than $25, 

 makes the real value of a ton of cotton-seed meal fed on the farm not 

 less than $41. So long as we buy commercial fertilizers, nearly 

 every ton of which contains from 500 to 800 pounds of cotton-seed 



