No 7. Department op agriculture. 329 



man will easily break a ton of ears in less than three hours. It 

 has been argued as an advantage in favor of grinding that cotton- 

 seed meal or oil meal can" be mixed readily with ear corn. While 

 this is true it has been found just as satisfactory to put cotton-seed 

 meal on top of the broken corn as to mix it with it. In this way 

 the feed will be fairly w^ell mixed by the cattle when eaten. Another 

 advantage in favor of broken corn is that a greater amount of the 

 undig'ested corn will be recovered by hogs if they have access to 

 the steers. Where corn must be shipped in, it of course will be 

 shelled on account of the freight. It might be better ground as the 

 steers will not chew the shelled corn so well as the broken ears. 



These are but a few of the questions connected with beef produc- 

 tion, and they have been touched upon but briefly. It is not recom- 

 mended that every one engage in the business or that it become as 

 general as it is further west, but it is a profitable method of market- 

 ing corn, of utilizing pasture and of converting straw into fertilizer. 

 It is on the increase on some of the highest priced lands in the 

 State, a fact which would indicate its profitableness. It is doubt- 

 ful whether summer feeding is advisable, except for young animals, 

 preferably natives. But that we can produce baby beef and fatten 

 more steers to advantage is firmly believed. 



On motion, the Normal Institute adjourned. 



A. L. MARTIN, 



Deputy Secretary of Agriculture ani Director of Institutes. 



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