466 Thirty-First Annuai. Report 



conducted to determine whether calves can be raised successfully 

 on substitutes for milk at a cost which would justify their rearing. 

 Four groups of calves were formed to test different methods of 

 feeding and dift'erent rations. 



Group 1 was known as the whole-milk group, and the calves 

 in it were fed whole milk until they were two months of age, to 

 give them a good start. The milk was then gradually decreased 

 about one-half pound per day, and replaced by a home-mixed grain 

 gruel. The mixture of feeds used in the gruel was as follows : 

 Rolled barley 3 parts by weight 



Ground milo maize, 3 parts by weight 

 Wheat Bran, 3 parts by weight 



Alfalfa meal, 3 parts by weight 



Oil meal, 1 part by weight 



Bone meal, .2 part by weight 



This feed mixture was run through a grinder to get it as fine as 

 possible and was used in the gruel at the rate of one part to seven 

 parts of warm water. Besides the gruel, they were given some ot 

 the dry-grain mixture and alfalfa hay. 



The three calves in this group were kept on the test until they 

 were five months of age, at which time they were in excellent con- 

 dition and somewhat over-weight for their age. Considerable 

 difficulty was experienced in getting them to eat the gruel. They 

 were also troubled with scours. 



Group 2 was known as the homemade grain milk-substitute 

 group. These calves w^ere fed whole milk for the first week or 

 ten days ; then a small amount of the homemade ration was addeil. 

 This consisted of: 



8 parts corn meal 

 V/2 " alfalfa meal 

 1^ " wheat bran 

 y2 " oil meal 

 3^2 " blood meal 

 .2 " ground bone mea» 



This was mixed in the proportion of one part of meal to seven 

 parts of water and fed at a temperature of 90 to 100 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. The milk was to be decreased and the grain gruel 

 increased, until, at the age of five weeks, they were to receive a 

 full ration of 18 to 20 ounces of the meal made into 10 to 11 pounds 

 of gruel ; but the calves were troubled with scours so much that 

 they were kept on a partial milk ration and were given less than 

 the allotted amount of gruel. This group did not thrive, as it 



