ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 469 



18 at 658 lbs. per head and coming out April 6 at 1,031 lbs., or an average daily 

 gain of 1.78 lbs. at a cost of gain of 6.S.5 cts. per pound. The estimated profit 

 per head, over cost of feed and shrinlj, for the entire 2 years' feeding was $13.47 

 per head. These figures do not include the cost of labor in winter feeding. 



Owing to the adverse conditions under which the experiment was conducted, 

 only general conclusions are drawn from these results. The main profit came 

 in the winter feeding of calves, which bears out the results of earlier worli 

 (B. S. R., 23, p. 276). Also "the fattening of the steers as yearlings was a 

 profitable operation, and with reasonable growth on range there is every encour- 

 agement for the production of beef in valleys of the State where alfalfa and 

 barley can be grown and there is outside range for the cattle." 



A table is included giving information gathered from a selected lot of men 

 running range cattle in different sections of the State and showing estimates 

 of the normal cost of i-anging cattle. 



Feeding beef cattle, C. A. Willson and S. A. Robert (Tennessee Sta. Bui. 

 104 {191Jt), pp. 77-107, Jigs. 4). — Three groups of 2-year-old steers, group 1 

 consisting of 8 lots comprising 82 head ; group 2, 6 lots of 56 head ; and group 3, 

 5 lots of 45 head were fed during a 90-day period corn silage, cotton-seed hulls, 

 and cotton-seed meal in various combinations, the cotton-seed meal being fed 

 in low (3 to 5 lbs.), medium (5 to 7 lbs.), and high (7 to 9 lbs.) daily amounts, 

 respectively. The average daily gains were 1.52, 1.75, and 1.72 lbs. per head, 

 respectively; the average cost per pound of gain 8.53. 8.52, and 12.1 cts. 



The general results from the work on cotton-seed meal for steer feeding indi- 

 cate first, that the best and cheapest gains can be made when the amount of 

 cotton-seed meal fed increases from 5 to 7 lbs. per head throughout the feeding 

 period; second, that the feeder is not warranted in the use of cotton-seed meal 

 to the extent of from 7 to 9 lbs. per head per day, except in very short feeding 

 periods of from 30 to 50 days; and third, that medium meal rations are as 

 eflicient from the standpoint of gains as high meal rations, increasing from 7 

 to 9 lbs. and are much more eflicient from the standpoint of economy. In com- 

 paring corn silage and cotton-seed hulls as roughage it was found that when 

 small amounts of cotton-seed meal are fed, such as 3, 4, and 5 lbs., silage gives 

 better results than cotton-seed hulls, but that where large amounts are fed the 

 cotton-seed hulls give the bettter results. 



On another series of tests, 117 steers fed silage and cotton-seed meal made 

 an average daily gain of 1.72 lbs. per head, 82 on cotton-seed hulls and cotton- 

 seed meal 1.6 lbs., and 32 on a combination of silage, hulls, and cotton-seed 

 meal 1.91 lbs. The average cost per pound of gain was 8.20, 11.3, and 7.6 cts., re- 

 spectively. These results indicate that much better gains may be made through 

 the use of silage with cotton-seed meal than through the exclusive use of 

 cotton-seed hulls for the roughage portion of the ration. When silage is fed, 

 however, greater gains may be made by the addition of a small amount of some 

 dry feed, such as hulls. The largest and most economical gain was made where 

 a small amount of hulls was fed in conjunction with the silage. The average 

 returns per ton of silage fed are estimated to be $7.65, those of cotton-seed hulls 

 $13.78. From this it is concluded that it requires a much wider margin to feed 

 steers with hulls than with silage. 



A study made of the influence of breed on gains showed a gain of 25.6 lbs. in 

 favor of the steers with one or more beef -bred crosses. Not only did the better- 

 bred steers make more gains, but the gains were put on in the more valuable 

 beef cuts, and thus made the beef-bred steers sell at a wider mai'gin and greater 

 profits. Steers classed as very good made an average gain for 90 days of 158.8 

 lbs. ; those classed as good, 143.6 lbs. ; medium, 122 lbs. ; and poor, 124.9 lbs. 



