LIVE STOCK BREEDERS. 205 



VALUE OF NITROGENOUS ROUGHAGE IN CATTLE FEEDING. 



Not only has clover, cow pea and alfalfa hay proven to be of 

 very great efficiency in connection with corn for fattening cattle, but 

 it has also been shown by experiments, also by the Missouri Station, 

 that when yearling cattle are wintered on a light grain ration, when 

 they receive clover, cow pea or alfalfa hay they make a much greater 

 gain on a given amount of corn than when fed timothy, corn fodder 

 or sorghum hay. These results are recorded in Table I and may be 

 studied by reference to that table. It has been shown repeatedly that 

 corn can be made more efficient by balancing the ration with some 

 material like cotton seed or linseed meal, which is made up largely 

 of nitrogenous or protein substances. It ought to be no surprise, 

 therefore, that these nitrogenous fodders will produce so much better 

 results than timothy or corn fodder. 



Another thing significant in this experiment is the possibility of 

 utilizing to much more profit the corn fodder which is now largely 

 wasted on many Missouri farms. By combining corn fodder and 

 clover hay half and half we have succeeded in producing a pound of 

 gain on yearling steers by feeding 445 pounds of corn. 



GAINS MADE ON PASTURE. 



The cheapest gains made on cattle in ^Missouri are those made 

 while the cattle are on pasture. Most of the books on cattle feeding 

 insist that feeding grain to cattle on pasture is unprofitable. It is 

 nevertheless true that the practical cattle feeder in Missouri continues 

 to feed a full fattening ration to cattle on pasture. He finds this 

 method to be the most profitable and successful way of finishing 

 cattle. We have but one experiment at the Missouri Station in 

 summer feeding to compare with several winters' work in the winter 

 feeding, but the results so far secured are certainly very favorable to 

 summer feeding rather than winter feeding. 



