174 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



than to lower the grade of the ration by substituting a poorer 

 roughness. Frequently when feeding at pasture the grass becomes 

 very soft and washy, while it remains very palatable. In this case 

 the remedy would be a hay of good quality to temper the grass. 



The main point insisted upon is that the quality should be im- 

 proved as the animals approach the finishing point. This may in 

 a majority of cases be most effectively done by adding a limited 

 quantity of old process linseed meal, from one-tenth to one-seventh 

 of their whole grain ration, during the last 60 or 80 days. This 

 will insure a large consumption of grain and, of course, rapid gains 

 to the end, and will materially improve the coat and enhance the 

 selling quality of the steer over and above an equally fat one that 

 has not had some such food as linseed meal. It goes without say- 

 ing that this linseed meal should be added very gradually to the 

 ration. 



PURE WATER CONVENIENT AT ALL TIMES. 



In order to secure satisfactory results in steer and hog feed- 

 ing, it is of the utmost importance that an abundant supply of pure, 

 clear, cool water be furnished. This point was strongly emphasized 

 by a great number of the experienced feeders making reports for 

 this bulletin. It is furthermore important that the hog be required 

 to drink in a separate place from the cattle, and that the water 

 for each class of stock be protected against the other class of stock. 

 It will not do to allow the steers to drink from the hog troughs, or 

 the hog wallows, nor to permit the hogs to foul the water in the 

 cattle troughs. 



It is a well established law r that all classes of stock should be 

 watered regularly and should have an abundant supply, but this is 

 especially important for animals which are under the strain of 

 rapid production, such as the highly developed dairy cow when in 

 full flow of milk, and the growing or fattening steer when on full 

 feed and producing to its utmost capacity. A steer on full feed 

 in one of our experiments* voided in its dung and urine daily per 

 thousand pounds live weight 32 pounds of water, as compared with 

 13 pounds as the average voiding of two other steers of the same 

 weight that were fed only a sufficient amount to maintain body 

 weight without gain or loss, the character of the ration being ex- 

 actly the same in both cases. To restrict the amount of water 

 drunk by the steers and hogs, either by its location being remote 



•Not yet published. 



