672 EXPERIMENT STATION KECORD. 



In general, timothy hay of average (luality was found t(j be uiitritious enongli 

 " to a little more than maintain the weight of yearling steers that were in thin 

 condition to begin with. That is, steers of this class were wintei'ed on timothy 

 hay of fair qnality without loss in weight, and, on the average, made a slight 

 gain. [The change in weight was small] . . . varying from a slight loss in one 

 experiment, when the weather was particularly unfavorable, to a fair gain when 

 the quality of the hay was good and the weather was dry, bright, and crisp. . . . 



"The average ration for the yearling steer weighing 750 lbs. was 33.(5 lbs. 

 of stover of which 19.83 was eaten, leaving 13.77 lbs., or 41 per cent as refuse 

 or waste material. . . . Taking the average of our four years" work, it ajipears 

 that whole field-cured corn stover, handled as in ordinary farm priactice, would 

 not quite maintain yearling steers moderately thin to begin with. That is, the 

 average of all of our trials shows a loss of 33 lbs. per steer, on the basis of a 

 6 months' wintering period, or from November 1 to April 30. 



" In these experiments we offered an average of 33.5 lbs. of stover daily per 

 steer, computed on the basis of 750 lbs. live weight. This would require 3 tons 

 of stover per steer for a G months' wintering period. The results with shredded 

 stover were slightly less favorable than with whole stover, although the differ- 

 ence was so small as to be easilj^ within the limit of error. . . . 



" Our results show that almost as much of the material was refused by the 

 animals when shredded as when fed whole, notwithstanding the fact that the 

 animals were offered a considerably less quantity of the shredded than of the 

 whole material. . . . Siloed stover without grain produced very much better 

 results than did field-cured stover, either fed whole or shredded, but the results 

 are too meager to warrant a definite conclusion. In every trial equal parts of 

 clover hay and corn stover proved to be more efiScient than did timothy. By 

 combining. stover with clover therefore it is possible to bring its feeding value 

 up to that of timothy hay, or, on the assumption that stover has little feeding 

 value, the conclusion is justified that clover has practically double the feeding 

 value of timothy." 



The tests in which small amounts of grain, 4 to 6 lbs. per head, were fed in 

 comparison with different kinds of coarse fodder extended over 4 years, the in- 

 dividual tests being made with lots of 4 steers, weighing about 750 lbs. each and 

 covering from 66 to 120 days. In every case the coarse fodder was fed ad 

 libitum. In the first of the tests mixed grain (corn meal and cotton-seed meal 

 about 3:2) and corn meal with whole com stover were fed in comparison with 

 the coarse fodders in the last of the tests mentioned above. On the mixed 

 grain ration there was an average daily gain of 0.77 lb. per steer and on the 

 corn meal ration a loss of 0.32 lb. 



"When shelled corn with timothy hay, with whole stover and clover hay 1 : 1, 

 and with cowpea hay ad libitum were compared with cowpea hay alone the 

 daily gains on the rations containing grain ranged from 0.65 lb. on shelled corn 

 and timothy hay to 1.54 lbs. on shelled corn and cowpea hay. On the cowpea 

 hay alone there was a gain of 0.56 lb. per head per day. At the close of the 

 test, April 30, these lots were pastured until December 24. The gains made 

 ranged from 345 lbs. per steer with the lot which received corn and cowpea 

 hay to 422 lbs. with the lot which had been fed corn and timothy hay. 



In the third test of similar grain rations with hay of different sorts shelled 

 corn was fed with timothy, clover, millet, and sorghum hay and with corn 

 stover and clover hay 1:1. Gains were noted in every case, ranging from 

 0.37 lb. per head per day on millet hay to 2 lbs. per head per day on clover hay. 

 The ration of stover and clover hay ranked next highest, the average daily gain 

 being 1.67 lbs. per head. When these cattle were pastured during the summer 



