386 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



chaffed hay. "The cheapest gain was made where the labor element in preparing 

 the feed was reduced to the minimum." Data regarding shrinkage in dressing and 

 the weight of hide, percentage of fat, etc., were recorded in connection with the 

 slaughter test made at the close of the trial. 



The greatest gain of the pigs, 1,115 lbs., was made by 7 pigs following the 10 steers 

 fed shelled corn in the paved yard. The smallest gain, 63 lbs., was made by the 

 pig following the 10 steers fed silage and corn meal. 



Some of the author's conclusions were, in effect, as follows: Corn silage ranks with 

 ear corn, corn meal, and corn-and-cob meal in its ability to make rapid gains on 

 fattening cattle. Corn meal and corn-and-cob meal appear to be about equally 

 efficient in producing quick finish. More rapid gains were secured in this test with 

 whole than with shelled corn and equally as good as with meal. A reasonably 

 quick finish may be secured without the feeding of an excessively heavy grain ration. 



"The feeding of a nitrogenous concentrate to supplement corn undoubtedly stimu- 

 lates the appetite and increases the capacity of the steer for consuming to advantage 

 large quantities of concentrates. Hence this system of feeding is to be recommended 

 where a quick finish is desired." Corn meal was more efficient than corn-and-cob 

 meal or shelled corn, but not more efficient than ear corn. Chaffing the hay and 

 mixing with a ground concentrated feed did not materially increase the efficiency 

 of the grain for beef production, although by this system of feeding there is less 

 likelihood of the steers getting off feed or of scouring. 



As regards profit to the cattle feeder, the 3 rations which gave the best results were 

 ear corn supplemented with oil meal and gluten meal, shocked or fodder corn and ear 

 corn, and ear corn without additional concentrated feed, the 3 rations being so nearly 

 alike that it would be unwarranted to say that either would prove superior. The 3 

 rations which gave the smallest net profits were shelled corn (fed in an unpaved 

 yard) , corn-and-cob meal, and corn meal fed with chaffed hay. 



"The results of this experiment are so striking that it appears that the grinding of 

 corn for feeding choice 2-year-old steers during the winter season is not warranted. 

 The profits of feeding ear corn are fully twice as large as those secured in feeding 

 corn meal or corn-and-cob meal. . . . [However,] it should not be assumed that it 

 does not pay to grind corn for cattle that are being fattened in summer on grass. . . . 



"The feeding of silage in moderate quantities is not necessarily conducive to heavy 

 shrinkage in shipping or small percentages of dressed beef. The reader is cautioned 

 not to conclude that since the feeding of silage was not followed with as large profits 

 as the feeding of several other rations, that it has no place in beef production. Its 

 use in growing young cattle and as a part of the ration of the breeding herd promises 

 well in the hands of the experienced feeder, but to just what extent it may be profit- 

 ably used for these purposes remains to be determined by future investigations. 



"Many who advocate the feeding of ear corn to cattle if hogs follow, advocate the 

 feeding of meal if for any reason it seems desirable to eliminate the hog. The results 

 of this experiment do not warrant such a conclusion. After eliminating the hog from 

 the cattle-feeding operations here presented the feeding of broken-ear corn was fol- 

 lowed with larger profits than the feeding of meal." 



As regards the gains made by the pigs, "the most striking points of importance 

 brought out . . . [by the results of the test] are the relatively small amount of 

 pork produced from the droppings of the silage-corn-meal-fed steers; the large gains 

 made by the pigs following the shelled-corn-fed steers; and the fact that the pigs 

 following the ear-corn-fed (without nitrogenous concentrates) steers made larger 

 gains than did those in the lot where ear corn was so supplemented. . . . The 

 amount of gain made by hogs following steers appears to be largely regulated by the 

 amount of undigested corn in the droppings of the steers in an available form for the 

 hogs to recover; therefore larger gains are made by hogs following steers fed corn 



