EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III. 123 



three years' experience, feeding corn and prairie hay with or with- 

 out oil meal, we have been getting the best gains by the use of oil 

 meal. We found the gains w^ere strongly in favor of the use of oil 

 meal with prairie hay and com. Figuring the oil meal at $30.00 

 per ton and prairie hay at $6.00, we have been able to cheapen the 

 cost of producing beef about 11 per cent. We figure we can afford 

 to use oil meal when the cost does not exceed $45 per ton. 



Now, the table that has been last shown you, you will observe, 

 by reference to the table, that we fed during one experiment, shelled 

 com, 75 per cent, bran, 25 per cent, with prairie hay, and in the 

 other column, shelled corn 90 per cent, and oil meal 10 per cent, 

 and in the next one we have shelled corn 90 per cent, cotton seed 

 meal 10 per cent, and of course, with prairie hay in each case. 



The second year the roughness was com stover, and the corn bran 

 and oil meal in the percentage as indicated by the table. We have 

 to use more bran, because bran is not nearly so rich in protein 

 material. 



No dobbt, the reason we get so much better gains by the use of 

 oil meal, rather than com and prairie hay alone, is because the oil 

 meal furnishes the protein, which is lacking in corn and prairie 

 hay or timothy hay. Now, in this comparison with wheat bran, 

 linseed meal and cotton seed meal, the average gain per steer per 

 day the first year is, shelled corn, bran and hay, 1.98 ; on shelled 

 corn and oil meal, 2.52 ; shelled com and cotton seed meal, 2.29. 



You will notice the next year we fed those rations throughout the 

 entire period of twenty weeks ; that year, instead of feeding prairie 

 hay, we fed corn stover. In the cost of production, we figured oil 

 meal at $32 a ton and bran at $15, and cotton seed meal at $32. 

 The first year, the cost of producing 100 pounds of gain on the 

 bran was $9.31, and on the oil meal it was $8.59. The next year, as 

 disclosed by the table, the cost of producing 100 pounds gain on 

 the bran was $10.49, and on the oil meal $7.64 The cost of pro- 

 ducing gains, therefore, was greater watli bran. We have found oil 

 meal somewhat superior to the cotton seed meal. But this experi- 

 ment "\nll be carried on farther, and it may be we will obtain better 

 results this winter. 



Question : I would like to know the percentage of protein in the 

 cotton seed meal that you use ? 



Prof. Smith : It was right around 31 or 32 ; it was higher 

 than the oil meal. 



Question : Did you use this in the finishing period ? 



