ANIMAL I'KODUCnON. 4()5 



"The gcueral plan ul' tlio exi»erimental t'ooiliug plaut at this station, for tUo 

 feeding of 200 bead of beef cattle in carload lots, and individually, consists of a 

 storage barn facing east and west and two ro\\'s of feed lots connected by a j)aved 

 alley, lying east and west from the west side of the storage barn. Sonth of the 

 feed lots is a corn crib 144 feet In length, and north of the stor.-ige l):irn is a 20 by 

 2S foot engine house. On the west side of the barn and north of the alley are 

 stock scales. 



"There are twelvi' feeding lots in tiie two rows iiieutioiied. seven of whicli are 

 situated on the sonth side of the alley and five on the north side. All face to 

 the south and all are i)aved with brick with the exception of three lots on the 

 nortb side of the alley, one of which is used for experimenting with cattle fed 

 in an ordinary earth lot. The sheds on the south side of the alley are open on 

 tlie south side, while those on the north side are inclosed and jjrovided with 

 large sliding doors. None are jtaved. 



" I'Ved carriers convey the concentrates and ch;iff(Ml rougiiage from the 

 sec((nd lloor of the storage barn to the lots on tli(» south side (tf the alley." 



Maintenance rations for beef-breeding cows, II. W. Mumford {lUinois 8ta. 

 Bill. 111. pj). S2Ji-3Ji2, figs. //). — Using 3 lots of 10 grade cows 3 to <> years old. 

 corn silage, shock corn, and corn stover wei'e compared with a view to securing 

 data regarding the relative value of cheap feeds available on Illinois farms for 

 maintaining beef-breeding cows during the winter season. The corn feeds were 

 sup])lemented by clover hay and oat straw, except that for about the first two- 

 thirds of the period no clover hay was used in the corn-stover ration. 



To determine whether ensiling the corn is more valuable for winter feeding 

 than curing it. the amount of corn and its accompanying coarse fodder was 

 made the same in the silage and shock corn rations. " In the selection of the 

 feeds to be fed, an effort was made to use such as ai'e not looked upon as cash 

 crops of the farm, but more in the nature of by-products of low commercial 

 value." 



In 140 days the average gain on the silage I'ation was 1.07 ll)s. per cow per 

 day, the amounts eaten Iieing 16.05 lbs. silage. .>.5 lbs. clover hay, and O.oG lbs. oat 

 straw. On shock corn the gain was 0.758 lb. per cow per day, the feed eaten 

 being 8.7 lbs. shock corn, :{.5 lbs. clover hay, and 10.83 lbs. oat straw. On corn 

 stover the gain was 0.41 lb. per cow per day, the feed eaten being 21.07 lbs. corn 

 stover and 5.15 lbs. oat straw when the cows received no clover hay, and when 

 stover hay was used 10.20 lbs. corn stover, 1.56 lbs. clover hay, and 8.19 lbs. oat 

 straw. 



As the experiment progressed the cows fed silage and shock corn were in 

 iK'tter condition and more contented than those fed the corn stover, and, fur- 

 thermore, the character of the feces indicated that in the latter case there wei'e 

 digestive disturi)ances. No such disturbances were noted with the cows fed the 

 silage and the shock corn. 



"The corn plant, i'ed either in tlie form of shock corn or silage, suiiplemented 

 with a limited amount of clover Iiay, jiroved satisfactory rations for wintering 

 beef-breeding cows." " I'ndei' tlie i-onditions of this exi)erimeut, silage pi"o- 

 duced 41 ])er cent greater gain in live weight tiian an e(|ual acreage of shock 

 corn." 



For a part of the test the cows were allowed free access to loos(> salt, and 

 !i record was kept of the amount consimied. The average daily consiunption 

 w.as o.ds lb. on the silage rati(m, 0.12 lb. on the shock-corn ration, and 0.10 lb. cm 

 the corn-stover ration. 



Two of the cows fed corn silage and 2 fed shock corn dropped calves and were 

 removed from their respective lots. At the end of the test the oldest calf was 

 70 days old, and in no case had the.v been given other feed than the milk of 



