666 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOBD. 



Four lots of 9 and 10 pigs each were fed 70 days as follows: Lot 1 whole 

 wheat soaked for 24 hours, lot 2 ground wheat dry, lot 3 ground wheat soaked 

 for 12 hours, and lot 4 ground wheat and tankage 14 : 1 soaked for 12 hours. 

 These lots made average daily gains per head of 1.5, 1.72, 1.68, and 1.78 lbs., 

 each bushel of wheat fed realizing $1.19, $1.36, $1.33, and $1.41 for the respec- 

 tive lots. 



Four lots of 2-year-old steers were fed during the year to determine the value 

 of a ration composed of broken ear corn, cotton-seed meal, cotton-seed hulls, and 

 a limited amount of clover hay? as compared with a ration of the same feeds 

 ■with the exception of the silage. Two lots were finished in the dry lot and two 

 on pasture. In the dry lot test, the cost per pound of gain made by the lot of 

 cattle receiving silage was 1.66 cts. less than the cost of gain made by the cattle 

 which did not receive silage in the ration. Both of these lots were given a full 

 feed. The two other lots of .steers were given a 3/4 full feed of the rations 

 mentioned above during the winter and early spring, and were finished on grass 

 without grain to determine the functional ability of cattle to graze after having 

 had silage the previous winter, as compared with steers receiving dry feeds, 

 1. e., the same feeds with the exception of silage. The lot which received silage 

 during the winter did not make as large gains on pasture as the lot receiving 

 the same feeds with the exception of silage during the winter, the difference 

 being 23 lbs. per steer. The lot of steers which received silage during the 

 winter netted a profit of $5.88 per steer, while the nonsilage-fed lot made a 

 profit of $1.31 per steer. There was no difference in the finish of the steers in 

 the two lots when sold. 



[Feeding trials with cattle and hogs] (Kentucky Sta, Bicn. Rpt. 191^1915, 

 pp. 16-18, 22-2-'f, figs. 3). — In steer feeding experiments one lot of steers re- 

 ceived broken ear corn, cotton-seed meal, cotton-seed hulls, and clover hay; a 

 second lot received the same feeds with the addition of corn silage, limiting the 

 ear corn, however, to the amount fed the first lot less that containetl in the 

 silage. The addition of the silage very materially re<luced the cost of gains 

 during the winter sea.son, the saving amounting in one test to 3.61 cts. per 

 pound of gain and in a later test to 4.25 cts. In one exi>eriment the lot receiv- 

 ing the silage did not gain on pasture the following summer within 22 lbs. 

 per head of the lot which did not receive silage, while in a second experiment 

 the lot receiving the silage made 49 lbs. more gain per steer on pasture than 

 the lot receiving no silage. Further investigations are contemplated. 



It appeared that broken ear corn was not a good form in which to feed corn 

 to steers on full feed when receiving corn silage as a part of the ration, for 

 the reason that under such conditions the steers ate a small amount of silage, 

 due in part to the filling effect of the cobs. In contrast to these results it was 

 found that the feeding of shelled corn with silage was advantageous, as the lot 

 so fed gainetl at the rate of 2.36 lbs. per steer daily, as compared witli 1.97 

 lbs. for the lot receiving broken ear corn, and the gains were also made at 

 2.69 cts. less per pound of weight. The cattle receiving the shelled corn were 

 also in better finish at the close of the experiment. The lessening in the cost 

 of gains was due in part to a decreased consumption of corn, and in part to 

 an increasetl consumption of silage, the lot receiving shelled corn consuming 

 an average of 36.3 lbs. of silage per steer daily and the lot receiving broken ear 

 corn, 22.6 lbs. 



In a study of the value of distillery slop as a feed for hogs the conclusion 

 was reached that the slop can be fed at a fair profit, provided that the ration 

 is properly balanced, and that there is no danger from hog cholera if proper 

 preventive methods are resorted to. 



