204 



MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



will bring almost as much per pound as the older animals, then there 

 must certainly result moje profit from feeding- the young animals, 

 and it must follow that the production of baby beef is a more profit- 

 able business than the ordinary methods of cattle feeding. 



THE KIND OF FEED FED. 



Experiments have also shown clearly that there is a great differ- 

 ence in the efficiency of different feeds in producing gain. As will 

 be seen by reference to Table I, at the North Carolina Station 224 

 pounds of raw cotton seed produced 100 pounds of gain. And at the 

 Arkansas Station 209 pounds of the same grain produced also 100 

 pounds of gain. However, it will be observed that the feeding period 

 was a short one and that in all probability the animals were very 

 thin at the beginning of the fattening period. At the Kansas Station 

 corn, either in the ear or shelled, required from 1,100 to 1,400 pounds 

 of grain to produce 100 pounds of gain. 



It has been generally supposed that the roughage in the feeding 

 ration was not particularly important. This belief, however, while 

 quite commonly held among some very large cattle feeders has never 

 been based upon an accurate experiment. The ^Missouri Experiment 

 Station particularly has demonstrated that the roughage in a ration 

 may add as much as one-third to its efficiency. The ^Missouri ex- 

 periments were all planned and executed by Director H. J- Waters 

 and have attracted widespread interest throughout the cattle feeding 

 districts of the west. In a feeding experiment lasting 199 days, two 

 yearling steers fed on corn and timothy ha}^ required 1,151 pounds of 

 corn to produce 100 pounds of gain, whereas the same class of cattle 

 fed the same length of time on corn and cow pea hay required only 

 831 pounds of corn to produce 100 pounds of gain. Other experi- 

 ments at the Experiment Station have shown clearly that nitrogenous 

 fodder rations like clover hay, cow pea hay and alfalfa hay have in- 

 variably given markedly better results than has timothy hay and 

 corn fodder or sorghum hay. 



Table IV records the results of feeding these kinds of roughness 

 to cattle on full feed. 



Table IV. Different Roughnesses for Fattening Steers. 

 First Trial Jan. G, 'Ul — April IC, '02. 100 days. 4 2-year-ol(i steers per lot. Full feed. 



Shelled corn. 



