DIGESTIBILITY OF CORN SILAGE, VELVET-BEAN MEAL, 

 AND ALFALFA HAY WHEN FED SINGLY AND IN COM- 

 BINATIONS 



By P. V. EwiNG, Animal Husbandman, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station 

 and F. H. Smith,' Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station 



INTRODUCTION 



This paper is the third in a series of investigations on the associative 

 action of various feeds. The results with rations made up of com silage, 

 cottonseed meal, and starch ^ and those made up of corn silage and 

 cottonseed meal ^ have been published, and the present article deals 

 with the question of the digestibility of rations made up of com silage, 

 velvet-bean meal, and alfalfa hay. The investigation was conducted 

 with the view of studying the extent and causes of fluctuations in the 

 total nutrient digestibility induced by the combinations of these feeds, 

 and the relationship of these fluctuations to the feeding practice. 



PLAN OF INVESTIGATION 



The steers used were the high-grade 2-year-old north-Georgia Short- 

 horns which had been used in the nutrition work of the winter of 1915-16 

 (previously reported).* 



The com silage and alfalfa hay were both produced on the Station farm 

 and were of average grade. The velvet-bean meal was from commer- 

 cial stock and came from near the southern Georgia-Alabama line. 

 The average analyses of these feeds are given in Table I. 



Table I. — Average percentage composition of the feeds used 



Feed. 



Silage 



Alfalfa hay 



Velvet-bean meal 



Dry 

 matter. 



26. 29 

 91. 02 

 89-37 



Ether 

 extract. 



0-773 

 2.67s 



4-576 



Crude 

 fiber. 



7-304 

 30. 770 

 14. 430 



Ash. 



I. 180 

 6.865 



4.250 



Nitrogen. 



o. 252 



2.564 

 2.764 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



15.46 

 34.68 

 48.84 



' F. H. Smith is now a lieutenant in the Aviation Branch of the United States Army. The work on 

 which this paper is based was done while the senior and junior writers were connected with the Georgia 

 Agricultural Experiment Station in the capacities of Animal Husbandman and Chemist, respectively. 



2 EwiNG, P. v., and Wei,i,s, C. A. thb AssoaATivB DiGESTiBiiixy of corn silage, cottonseed 

 MEAL, AND STARCH IN STEER RATIONS. Ga. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. IIS, P- 269-296, 7 diagr. 1915. 



3 EwiNG, p. v.. Wells, C. A., and Smith, F. H. the associative digestibility of corn silage 

 AND COTTONSEED MEAL IN STEER RATIONS. pt. 2. Ga. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bul. 125, p. 149-164, I fig. 1917. 



* EwiNG, P. v., and Smith, F. H. a study of the rate of passage of food residues through the 

 tTEER AND ITS INFLUENCE ON DIGESTION coEFFioENTs. /» Jour. Agr. Research, v. 10, no. 2, p. 55-63. 1917. 



Journal of Agricultural Research, 

 Washington, D. C. 



(611) 



Vol. XIII, No. la 

 June 17, 1918 

 Key No. Tex.-3 



