426 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



fill sheep feeder. I have in mind a Saline county farmer who 

 had never owned a sheep yet last year fed 1,200 lambs. He fed 

 them fifty-five days. They gained twelve pounds per head from 

 range-point weight to market weights. They topped the market 

 each day they were there. He lost only two lambs and did not 

 have a "tail end"^ — all sold straight. This lot of lambs were 

 fed in the following manner: When they arrived the farmer 

 filled them up well on clover hay, then turned them on a few 

 acres of cowpeas and gave them some shelled oats, a little corn 

 and silage in the lots in troughs. As the cowpeas disappeared 

 he increased the silage, decreased the clover hay, increased the 

 corn and added one-fourth pound of cottonseed meal per head 

 per day. He made the change gradually and got them up to 

 one and one-half pounds of silage, one pound of corn and one- 

 fourth pound of cottonseed meal, with a very little clover hay 

 and oats. The oats and hay can be decreased and taken off 

 entirely at the last end of the feed when the lambs are eating 

 plenty of silage. 



I am a great advocate of silage. When fed with a balanced 

 ration it cheapens cost of feed and produces the best of results. 

 I will give you the figures and results on 2,700 Mexican lambs 

 fed in Saline county last winter. This was a partnership deal, 

 so all feed was purchased and a strict account kept on every- 

 thing. These lambs were fed in two bunches — 1,200 in one lot 

 and 1,500 in the other. They were fed for an average of 51 

 days and made a gain of 12 pounds over range-point weights to 

 market weights. They not only topped the market, but also 

 sold at the top each day, which shows that they were strictly 

 good and satisfactory to the buyers. When these lambs were 

 received they were filled up well on clover hay. They did not 

 have any shelled oats or cowpeas, but were started on silage and 

 a little corn and wheat. (Just here I will say that there is no 

 better kind of grain for sheep than wheat.) We also added one- 

 fourth pound of cottonseed meal. We gradually increased the 

 silage and corn until we got them up to one and one-half pounds 

 of silage, one pound of corn, one-fourth pound of wheat and one- 

 fourth pound of cottonseed meal. Then we decreased the hay 

 and later took it off entirely. This is when the silage made the 

 saving in cost of feed, by reducing the amount of corn one-half 

 and all the hay — the two most expensive feeds last year. We 

 bought the silage at $5 per ton, weighed out of silo when fed. 

 This was good corn silage. Corn cost 73 3/^ cents per bushel, 



