EIGHTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III. 127 



have been careful enough to make it pretty safe to assert, that we 

 are producing beef in Nebraska the cheapest on a ration consisting 

 of corn, alfalfa and the bi-product upon which the corn grows— 

 stover. I am not prepared to say just yet which is the cheapest 

 feed, corn on the stalk or from the stalk. I believe it is cheaper 

 to take it from the stalk. 



"We have been carrying on a test this year in which we have fed a 

 heavy feed of grain, as compared with a light feed of grain and 

 roughness', alfalfa and stover. We have fed one lot a full feed of 

 corn, and we fed another lot 14 pounds of corn per day. We find 

 that on those two-year old steers, taken from the range, weighing 

 900 pounds to begin with, we get exactly the same gain; we get 

 exactly the same gain during the six months on these light fed 

 cattle that we got on the heavy fed cattle ; we got a gain of exactly 

 2 pounds per day. 



The question is, which is the more economical for the farmer, a 

 heav}^ feed of corn, or a light feed of corn. Last year we found 

 we made a little cheaper gain by the heavy feed ; but if alfalfa had 

 cost $5 per ton instead of $8, the cost would have been identical. 

 If corn had been worth 50 cents per bushel instead of 36, we would 

 have produced gains just as cheaply on the light feed as on the 

 heavy feed. 



Now, the limits are somewhere between these figures. This single 

 experiment goes to show that high priced hay and low priced corn 

 made a better full feed. If you have a low priced, good quality of 

 hay, alfalfa or clover, and corn is high, make your beef on less corn 

 and more hay, even if it takes more time. 



Let me say in conclusion, that I was surprised myself, when we 

 found that we got just as good a finish on those steers which had 

 only 14 pounds per day, as we did on the 20 pounds per day. Those 

 steers that were fed 14 pounds per day were shipped to the Omaha 

 market and brought just as much as the other steers did. It simply 

 suggests to me this possibility : if we are careful to put up good 

 quality of alfalfa or clover, and feed it right, we can make beef 

 cheaper than we have been making it. Let us no longer neglect 

 the roughness; do not feed some old, rotten strawstacks, but give 

 your cattle a good quality of roughness with the corn. 



The President: The next on the program will be "Failure 

 with the Oat Crop in Iowa; the Remedy," by the Hon. John 

 Cownie. 



Mr. Co^vnie : Farmers of Iowa : I desire to assure you that 

 it gives me sincere pleasure to meet so many live-stock shippers as' I 



