470 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 



the time he is looking for a buyer's name on a contract. The feeder 

 who goes on the range should be there by September at the latest. Con- 

 tracts are usually made for October or November deliveries. About 

 November first is the usual time. Of course calves can be bought at this 

 time, but the price is invariably higher and the quality of those offered 

 for sale is not so good. Calves bought on the range when landed in the 

 feed lots will usually cost just about the same or a little more than 

 calves bought at the Missouri river markets. But the quality and the 

 breeding is much better. In most of the Texas herds a certain line 

 breeding exists, the calf's mother, grandmother and great-grandmother 

 probably all wore the same brand, and when the calves are fed out 

 they will develop and will look alike. Buy as big a calf as you can, the 

 bigger and stronger the calf the better he will winter, and of course 

 get the best quality that you can, a dollar or two on a calf may mean 

 ten when he goes to market. If you can, go to the range for the calves 

 yourself, if you can't do this, give an order to some responsible party 

 who does go. There are plenty of reliable feeders who buy calves on 

 the range every year. If no other way, give an order to your commis- 

 sion firm and have them watch for a bunch of calves all from the same 

 herd. In this case you have the disadvantage of knowing nothing about 

 the cows and the bulls that the calves are from. If I could be assured 

 that the condition and size of the calves are right I would give more to 

 see the cows and the bulls than to see the calves themselves. 



From Texas to Iowa is a long trip on a stock train. It will usually 

 require about five days, and the calves taken from their mothers will 

 neither eat nor drink much at the feeding stations and will reach borne 

 mighty tired and hungry. A good pasture with plenty of water is a 

 fine place for them to rest up, but they will need a stronger feed than 

 this, and if left on grass will begin to shrink at once. We have also had 

 good success putting them directly into the feed lots. 



Corn silage is the basis of our ration and this is the feed that makes 

 cheap gains possible. As long as they are in the feed lots they are given 

 all of this that they will eat. They will relish some dry feed with the 

 silage and we usually feed some corn fodder or straw. For the first 

 month or so we fed only corn fodder, silage and cottonseed meal. About 

 a pound or a pound and a quarter per head a day of the meal. Don't fail to 

 provide this or some other high-protein feed to balance this excessive 

 corn ration. Clover or alfalfa bay would give a better variety but I 

 doubt if they could make any cheaper gains. 



About the first of the year we begin feeding five or six pounds of 

 crushed corn per day. Be sure that they are eating all the silage that 

 they will clean up, for remember it is the surplus food that the animal 

 eats that makes the gains. It is the assimilated food that is not needed 

 by our calf to keep up animal heat and growth that is laid away in 

 the fat that makes the finish. As our ration is not a rich ration it is 

 highly important that the calf gets all that he can use of it. 



The above ration is continued on the heifers, which are fed in separate 

 yards until they go to market; which is any time from May until July. 

 We prefer not to put the heifers on grass at all. The steers will do 

 more growing than the heifers. The amount of grain will be practically 



