116 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and we took the average of that weight. Then we weighed them 

 at the end of every month and got the monthly gain. They are 

 given water once or twice a day, usually twice, and the feeds are 

 given, as I will point out to you on these charts. I brought along 

 some charts. 



The first chart I will show you deals wnth an experiment under 

 way for three years, upon the relative economy of corn and prairie 

 hay, and com, and alfalfa hay. In our experiment station work 

 we do not feel at all safe in drawing conclusions from the results 

 of a single experiment ; we prefer to carry on that test for a period 

 of two or three years. I do not suppose you feed much prairie 

 hay here, or alfalfa. I will say, that the Nebraska prairie hay is 

 very similar in composition to your timothy; they are very nearly 

 alike, and that might almost be said of alfalfa. I might say alfalfa 

 belongs to the same family, of clover, and is similar to it. We 

 would like to think alfalfa is ahead of clover, but have made no 

 tests. Below you will find a chart of the experiment carried on 

 during a period of three years: 



Table 1. — Corn and prairie hay versus corn and alfalfa 



Yearling 



Steers 



Dec, '03, to 



June, '04,— 



24 weeks 



CD 



p ci 



a * 



05 



Two-year-old 



Steers 



Nov., '05, to 



Feb., '06,— 



12 weeks 



CS 

 D C 1, 



a o t: 



0,00 



03 



Average 



for 

 3 years 



IS 



a 



O A 



a * 

 o tS 



Average initial weight 

 per steer, lbs 



Average gain per day 

 lbs. 



Average grain fed per 

 day, lbs. 



Average hay fed per 

 day, lbs. 



Grain consumed per lb. 

 of gain, lbs 



Hay consumed per lb. 

 of gain, lbs 



Total food consumed 

 per lb. of gain, lbs.-. 



Cost of 100 lbs. gain 



■fProfit or loss per head 

 including pork pro- 

 duced from droppings. 



926.00 



1.90 



17.90 



9.70 



9.53 



5.19 



14.71 

 $8.23 



}$1.13 



937.00 

 2.30 



18.60 

 9.20 

 8.14 

 4.03 



12.16 



975.00 

 1.20 

 9.47 



18.22 

 7.87 



15.16 



23.03 

 $8.76 



:$0.08 



977.00 

 2.06 

 9.47 



22.15 

 4.60 



10.75 



15.35 

 $5.49 



§$3.56 



901.00 



1.48 



13.89 



12.21 



9.29 



8.95 



18.25 

 $8.32 



}$0.27 



907.00 

 2.11 

 U.4S 

 13.52 

 6.81 

 6.49 

 13.30 



•Snapped corn is the ear within the husk or shuck. The figures in the table 

 are its shelled corn equivalent. 



tin computing profits all items of expense were included except the labor of 

 feedinpr which is customarily figured as an offset to manure made. 



§Proflt. 



tLoss. 



It will be noticed by the chart, that the weights of the cattle 

 vary from 800 to 975 pounds. In any single test made we aimed to 



