1917] 



ANIMAI, PRODUCTION. 



169 



being supplemented with 2 lbs. cottonseed meal daily, A comparison was 

 also made in this test of corn stover and Kafir corn stover for replacing a part 

 of a roughage ration of alfalfa. Five lots of 5 high-grade Hereford and 

 Shorthorn yearling range steers, averaging about 600 lbs. each in weight at 

 the beginning of the test, were used. In the second test, which lasted 90 days 

 from January 19, 1910, the effort was made to find the most economical 

 method of fattening range steers under New Mexico conditions, with home- 

 grown feeds or with those most readily available. In this test there were 4 

 lots of 5 high-grade Hereford and Shorthorn yearling steers, each averaging 

 about 200 lbs. lighter per steer than those in the 1909 test. 



The rations compared and some of the results obtained are given in the 

 following table : 



Steer feeding tests. 



Year. 



1909 

 1909 

 1909 



1909 



1909 

 1910 

 1910 

 1910 

 1910 



20 pounds alfalfa hay, 8 pounds barley 



20 pounds alfalfa hay, 8 pounds corn 



20 pounds alfalfa hay, 8 pounds Kafir corn 



10 pounds alfalfa hay, 10 pounds shredded corn stover, 8 pounds 



Kafir com 



10 pounds alfalfa hay.lOpotmds shredded Kafir com stover, 8 



pounds Kafir com. 



Alfalfa hay, corn stover, ad lib 



Alfalfa hay , ad lib 



Alfalfa hay, ad lib. , 8 pounds corn 



Alfalfa hay, ad lib., 10 pounds com (last 30 days only) 



Profit 

 per steer. 



S9.62 

 9.91 

 9.07 



10.15 



8.39 

 6.93 

 8.30 

 6.58 

 7.44 



The corn, barley, and Kafir corn in all the rations were ground. The feeds 

 used in the experiments were estimated at the following prices : Ground corn, 

 Kafir corn, and barley $30 per ton ; cottonseed meal, $35 per ton ; alfalfa hay, 

 $10 per ton; shredded corn stover and Kafir corn stover, $6 per ton. The 

 initial value of the steers per pound was 5.9 cts, in 1909 and 7.49 cts, in 1910, 

 and the selling value in each case 8 cts. 



In the 1909 experiment the steers rejected an average of 2.5 per cent of 

 the alfalfa hay, 26.8 per cent of the corn stoA'er, and 18.9 per cent of the Kafir 

 corn stover. 



Pasturing sheep on alfalfa, B. Aune {U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus., 

 Work Belle Fourche E.rpt. Farm, 1915, p. 14, fig. 1). — Beginning August 28, 

 1915, 10 lambs with an average weight of 75 lbs. each were pastured for 40 

 days on a 1-acre field of third-crop alfalfa. The pasture was divided into two 

 lots, which were pastured alternately. During this time the lambs made an 

 average gain of 0.39 lb. each per day, so that, with the gains worth 7 cts. a 

 pound, a return of $10.85 per acre was secured for 40 days' use of the alfalfa 

 pasture. No bloating occurred. 



Sheep feeding experiment {Kansas Sta. Rpt. 1915. pp. 25, 25).— Results are 

 given of a feeding experiment which lasted from October 30 to December 20, 

 1914, with 313 western range lambs to determine the comparative value (1) 

 of com and Kafir corn as grain, (2) of alfalfa and cowpea hay as roughage, 

 (3) of sorghum as silage or hay, and (4) of ground v. unground Kafir corn. 



The lambs, which averaged about 55 lbs, each, were divided into six lots 

 and so fed as to make a maximum use of the roughage. Daily rations, in 

 addition to 0.19 lb. of cottonseed meal per lamb which was given to all the 



