444 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



farm during the latter part of July and were started, on August 1, on 

 a ration which consisted of four pounds of shelled corn, one pound 

 eotton-seed meal and twenty pounds corn silage. Owing to the severe 

 and prolonged drought which was prevalent over the state of Indiana 

 during the fall of 1908, it was impossible to secure pasture for these 

 cattle, hence it was decided to feed them on silage in connection with 

 their grain ration. At the end of the first ten-day period they were 

 consuming eleven pounds shelled corn and two pounds cotton-seed meal 

 per head. This was increasd gradually. At the end of the first month 

 they were consuming 13.5 pounds shelled corn, 3.5 pounds cotton-seed 

 meal and 25 pounds corn silage per head daily. By the end of the 

 second month they were consuming 14.5 pounds shelled corn, 4 pounds 

 cotton-seed meal and 28 pounds corn silage. The maximum amount of 

 grain was fed during the third month, which amounted to 16 pounds 

 shelled corn and 4 pounds cotton-seed meal per head. Silage was 

 gradually reduced during the same period, so that they consumed 20 

 pounds per head daily. In order to prepare them for shipment and to 

 overcome the tendency toward paunchiness the cattle were beginning to 

 show, the silage was taken out of the ration two weeks before shipment, 

 clover hay being supplied in its place during the remainder of the period. 

 On the day before shipment corn was reduced, cotton-seed meal omitted 

 entirely and in its place the same quantity of oats was fed. On the day 

 of shipment the amount of oats was increased to five pounds per head 

 and the corn decreased to six pounds per head. They were watered the 

 evening "before shipment and shipped to Chicago on Novmbr 27, where 

 they were entered in the International Short-fed Contest. 



Table XII shows that when the steers were continued on the same 

 rations there was a decrease in the rate and an increase in the cost of 

 gains due to the higher condition of the cattle. Lot 4, which had pre- 

 viously been fed on shelled corn and clover hay, failed to show any im- 

 provement during the next month from the addition of cotton-seed meal 

 to the ration. This, however, was due to one of the steers in this lot 

 being off feed and to the extremely muddy condition of the lot in which 

 they were fed. For these reasons the result from feeding this lot should 

 not be considered as based upon average conditions. The results, how- 

 ever, are reported in order that the feeder may appreciate the influence 

 which unfavoraljle conditions may have in determining the results of an 

 experiment. Lot 6 gave results similar to those secured in previous 

 work, which justifies the statement that when conditions are normal an 

 improvement in the ration during the final stages of fattening results 

 in a more rapid and a cheaper gain than where the use of the same ration 

 is continued. 



During the winter 1908-9 one lot of cattle, Lot 6, was fed on shelled 

 corn and clover hay for six months, the results of which were reported 

 in Bulletin No. 136. After the close of the experiment this lot, not being 

 finished, was retained in the feed lots for one month, a change being 

 made in the ration by the addition of cotton-seed meal. During the six 

 months' feeding period they had made an average daily gain of 1.89 

 pounds per head from the use of 10.15 pounds shelled corn and 5.23 



