PROCEEDINGS CORN BELT MEAT PRODUCERS' ASSN. 471 



that changes. There are times when there is a very low margin. When 

 the conditions are that the margin is only about a dollar a hundred, it 

 has been found decidedly advantageous to use a limited grain ration, 

 and that we have found to be used successfully with either silage or corn 

 fodder. And in using the limited grain ration very much cheaper gains 

 have been made and a very much lower total feeding cost has been at- 

 tained and many times cattle have been fed out under those conditions 

 where there was a good deal more profit than the longer feeding period 

 with the expensive corn ration running up into a large outlay for feeds. 



The work that the experiment station at Ames has conducted along 

 that line has pointed the way to finish cattle when the conditions are 

 such as I have outlined and put them on the market at a good deal larger 

 profit than can be done by the longer and more expensive grain feeding. 

 Now, of course, there are times such as we have had during the past 

 summer, with relatively cheap feed and with a shortage of well-finished 

 cattle going onto the market, and the high premium paid on the market 

 for the finished steers, that probably would not apply. But it is well to 

 know what results can be obtained and apply the practice and make use 

 of it when the conditions are such as to warrant the feeder in doing that. 

 Under some conditions millions of dollars can be saved to the state every 

 winter by the limited grain ration and the shorter feeding period. 



Then we have done some feeding with lambs. Lamb feeders have 

 had a good year's income. Lamb feeding has been profitable during the 

 past year. There are a large number coming into the state every year 

 to be fed out, and it is of interest to know what rations will give the 

 best results. In the western region, in Colorado, for instance, they do 

 not have corn. They would be glad if they did have it, and while they 

 ship some in, it is expensive for them and they use other rations to a 

 considerable extent. In the corn belt, however, our feeding experiments 

 have shown that the most economical and the most practical and profit- 

 able ration for fattening lambs is with grain as a basal ration, and there 

 is where the alfalfa and the clover as a system of farm rotation would 

 come in with very good advantage, because there is no place where you 

 can use alfalfa and clover hay to as good advantage as in feeding lambs. 

 We have found the most economical and profitable results in using corn 

 as a basal ration; much better than a ration made up with a share of oats 

 or barley as the principal factor. While they have used oats and barley 

 to a considerable extent in other regions, it is because they did not have 

 the corn. It is fortunate, too, that this is the case, because corn is al- 

 ways our cheapest grain feed here. When we can get our best returns 

 from the corn, combined with a supplement in the form of alfalfa and 

 clover, and with a very limited amount of the other foods in connection 

 with the corn, and when we certainly look for our best crops in that 

 way, men don't need to consider very much outlay if they have plenty 

 of clover and alfalfa hay. You don't need to consider very much outlay 

 in supplementing the corn ration for lamb feeding. 



Then, likewise, in studying the rations for pork production, we have 

 found that meat products and milk give decidedly better and more eco- 

 nomic results in combination with corn than any other form of the pro- 

 tein rations such as we have in linseed oil meal or cottonseed meal, than 



