206 



MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



WINTER AND SUMMER FEEDING COMPARED. 



Table V. Winter Experiments Extending Over Five Years. 



Pounds. 



Total grain fed 



Total roughness fed 



Total gain in weight 



Average amount grain per lb. gain 



Average amount roughness per lb. gain. 



Average grain daily per steer 



Average roughness dail'y per steer 



Average daily gain per steer 



Summer — Experiments Extending Over One Year. 



Total grain fed 



Total gain in weight 



Average amount grain per pound gain 



Average amount grain per steer daily 



Average daily gain per steer 



238.872.00 



91,450.00 



23,910.00 



10.00 



3.82 



21.29 



8.15 



2.13 



120,279.00 



16,709.00 



7.10 



18.42 



2.56 



815 lbs. hay eaten daily in winter at $6 per ton is 72.3 cents per 

 month per steer. Thus roughness about offsets pasture, having more 

 rapid and cheaper gain, besides requiring less labor and steers to 

 do better. 



Table V gives the result of winter and summer feeding at the 

 Missouri Station. It will be observed that the average amount of 

 grain required to produce a pound of gain during the winter is 10 

 pounds, while in summer feeding it requires only 7.2 pounds of grain 

 to produce one pound of gain. In summing up, then, we must con- 

 clude that the cheapest gains are made on young steers while grazing. 

 At the Missouri Station, however, results as favorable were secured 

 while feeding yearlings on a partial grain ration with clover hay. 

 The costliest gains are those made from feeding three-year-old steers 

 in half-fat condition at the beginning of the feeding period, on an 

 unbalanced ration of corn and timothy hay. and especially if fed for 

 a long time. 



Averages are not of very great values, but in general we may 

 conclude that the two-year-old steers on a short feed on pasture will 

 gain 100 pounds for each 400 pounds of grain eaten. A long feed 

 under the same conditions will require 600 pounds of grain for each 

 100 pounds of gain. A short feed in winter on dry feed exclusively, 

 will require 750 pounds of grain for 100 pounds of gain and during a 

 long feeding period under like conditions, from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds 



