ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 673 



the greatest gain 643 lbs. was made with tlie lot which had been wintered on 

 the corn and sorghum hay ration and the smallest gain, 470 lbs., by the lot 

 which had been feti corn and clover hay. In general, the author points out that 

 the summer gains were in inverse ratio to the gains made during the previous 

 winter. 



In a test which was very similar to the preceding except that alfalfa hay, 

 cowpea hay, and wheat straw and clover hay 1 : 1 fed with shelled corn were 

 also compared, as well as wheat straw with shelled corn and cotton-seed meal 

 2 : 1, the daily gains I'anged from 0.94 lb. on the last mentioned ration to 1.94 

 lbs. on the shelled corn and clover-hay ration. The alfalfa-hay ration ranked 

 next highest with an average daily gain of 1.03 lbs. per head, while with the 

 corn stover and clover hay ration the gain was 1.55 lbs. per head. 



In all the above-mentioned tests except two with shelled corn and clover hay 

 the steers were fed at a loss which ranged from 78 cts. with one of the lots 

 fed corn stover and clover hay to $9.89 per steer with the lot fed cotton-seed 

 meal, shelled corn, and wheat straw. The gains on the respective shelled corn 

 and clover hay rations were 14 and 82 cts. per steer. In general, the author 

 notes that the shelled corn and timothy hay ration, which is regarded as a 

 standard and with which the others are compared, proved very unprofitable in 

 every trial and was not to be compared as regards economy of feed with a 

 leguminous hay and corn. Corn and coi*n stover "proved to be a much poorer 

 combination than did even corn and timothy hay, as might be expected." Corn 

 and millet hay and corn and sorghum hay were also inferior, a result which 

 was not anticipated. 



" By substituting clover for timothy in these trials the efficiency of the ration 

 was practically doubled. That is. a bushel of corn when fed in combination 

 with clover hay produced essentially double the number of pounds of gain that 

 were produced on similar steers with the same amoinit of corn and good timothy 

 hay. AVhat was found to be true of clover applies almost identically to cowpea 

 hay." 



Corn, clover hay, and corn stover, as was the case when this coarse fodder 

 combination was fed without grain, produced larger gains than timothy hay of 

 good quality. Satisfactory results were also obtained with alfalfa hay and 

 with cowpea hay. " This means that with a large amount of coarse material 

 like stover to be utilized, one of the most useful materials to feed in connec- 

 tion with it is a limitetl (piantity of clover, cowpea, or alfalfa hay." 



When cotton-seed meal was fed as part of the ration "the amount of grain 

 secured was far less than when legume hay was used, such as clover or cow- 

 I)eas, and in view of the high price of cotton-seed meal, it would not be profitable 

 to attempt to substitute this material for one of the legume hays for the winter- 

 ing of cattle." 



The author notes that gains made with light feeding are relatively costly. 

 The cattle hardly more than kept their weight at best and therefore ])rac- 

 tically all the feed consumed was wasted, considered from the standpoint of 

 gains made. 



"As the ration was increased in amount so that the rate of gain increased 

 ilie cost of gains diminished uniformly. This seems to be true up to the full 

 limit of the appetite of the animal, or to the point where the animal is on full 

 feed or approximately on full feed. That is,- other things being equal, and 

 considering only the cost per pound of gain, the cheapest gains are uniformly 

 made when the animal is on full feed or approximately so." 



When cattle are to be grazed during the summer " it is important that they 

 be wintered lightly, or in such a way as not to carry to grass any considerable 

 amount of fat." 



29740— No. 7—08 6 



