THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART IV 



143 



IMAKE BABY BEEF OR WELI^BRED, HOME-GROWN CATTLE. 



Actual Farm Figures*, computed by Animal Husbandry Section, Iowa 

 Experiment Station. Herefords of identical breeding; calves and 

 yearlings fed, beginning January 1st. 



Number of cattle 



Number of days 



Initial weight 



Final weight 



Daily gain, average 



Daily feed, average — 



Shelled corn 



Cotton or linseed meal 



Bran 



Oats 



Corn stover 



Corn silage 



Alfalfa hay ■. . 



Pasture *** 



Cost of feed for 100 pounds gain. . . . 

 Initial cost per 100 pounds (home) . . 

 Selling price per 100 pounds (home) 

 Net profit per head 



♦Walnut Ridge Stock Farm, Monona County, Iowa. **Baby beeves, 

 fifteen at $11.10, five at $10.15, Chicago; two-year-olds, eight at $10, fif- 

 teen at $11.40, Sioux City. ***Baby beeves on pasture May 27th to Octo- 

 ber 16th (142 days); two-year-olds on pasture May 21st to August 19th 

 (90 days). 



Feed Costs — Corn, 65 cents; cottonseed meal, $30.50; oil meal, $38; 

 bran, $28; oats, 26 cents; hay, $10; stover, $3; silage, $4; pasture, 60 

 cents a month for babies, 70 cents for yearlings. Chicago market about 

 5 to 15 cents higher on Decem.ber 2d than on September 16th. 



When we consider that the actual value of the calves at the start was 

 $6, and of the yearlings $5.70 a hundred, we can readily see that there was 

 not much profit in carrying calves over the second year. Furthermore, 

 when it came to finishing out these cattle, the babies made the most 

 rapid and economical gains, and furthermore sold on practically an 

 identical market for the same money as the tw^o-year-olds.. The net profits 

 of the operation showed $6 a head in favor of the babies, or $20.03 as 

 compared to $14.04. These figures are quite accurate, and show the 

 futility of keeping well-bred home-grown cattle until they are two-year- 

 olds before they are fattened on the average tillable corn belt farm. 



Silage deserves the emphasis in this address. It is altogether fitting 

 and proper in closing to quote some of the many advantages of conserving 

 part of the corn crop as silage. They may be enumerated as follows: 



