184 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



fat condition at the beginning of the feeding period, the grain required 

 to make one pound of gain is increased. The thinner the cattle at the 

 beginning of the feeding period, the less grain is required to make one 

 pound of gain. 



6. Effect of rations on the finish of cattle. — A better finish has in 

 every case been secured from the feeding of supplemented rations than 

 from feeding corn alone. 



7. Uniform gains. — More uniform and consistent gains resulted 

 from the feeding of supplemented rations. ' 



8. Supplemented rations better for half-fat cattle. — The fatter the 

 animal the more efficient relatively are the supplemented rations. 



9. Daily grain consumed. — The cattle receiving supplemented 

 rations ate more grain per head and per day than those receiving an 

 exclusive corn ration. The amount of grain consumed increased gradu- 

 ally to the end of the fifth month. Towards the close of the feeding period 

 there is a marked difference between the amounts of grain consumed by 

 cattle receiving supplemented rations and those receiving corn alone. 

 In every case the supplemented rations are consumed in considerably 

 larger amounts during the closing weeks of the finishing period. 



10. Limited feeding. — An exception to 9 is to be observed in the 

 year 1906, when all lots were limited in the amounts of grain fed, and 

 this year the cattle were not full fed during the first three months, and 

 as a consequence the consumption of grain increased toward the end 

 of the experiment. 



11. Supplemented rations fatten cattle more quickly. — In these 

 experiments a ration of corn supplemented with some nitrogenous ma- 

 terial, such as linseed meal or cottonseed meal, fattened cattle more 

 quickly than did a ration of corn alone when fed to cattle on blue grass 

 pasture. 



12. Efficiency of rations at different stages of the feeding period. — 

 All rations are much more efficient during the first three months of 

 the feeding period. It required nearly double the amount of grain for 

 each pound of gain during the last four months, as compared with the 

 first three months of the feeding period. This increased requirement 

 was less in the case of Lot 70, receiving corn alone during the first five 

 months and corn and linseed oil meal during the last two months of 

 the feeding period. 



13. Cost of gains. — Under conditions similar to those existing 

 in this experiment the supplemented rations invariably cost more than 

 the rations of corn alone. The relative cost for each hundred pounds 

 of gain was less for the lots receiving shelled corn than for the lots re- 

 ceiving supplemented rations. 



