PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



country. Well packed crushed rock, brick or tile dust, 

 or other surfacing material may be used, the latter being 

 disadvantageous for cleaning although permitting the 

 cattle to keep out of the muck. Drainage for cattle lots 

 is perhaps most essential, as when the water runs off, 

 even dirt lots may be kept in fair condition. Feed racks 

 should have sufficient frontage to care for all of the 

 steers without crowding. This means that there should 

 be 2^" to 3 feet front per steer. Some feeders have had 

 considerable success in using a combination feed rack 

 for grain and roughage as indicated in Fig. A in the 

 accompanying illustration, while others have a separate 

 trough for grain and silage with a rack for hay as shown 

 in Fig. B. The combination rack is a little cheaper to 

 construct, but the separate racks operate a little more 

 satisfactorily from the free choice basis for the steer, 

 since the animals have a better chance to balance indi- 

 vidually their grain against their roughage. Many steers 

 come gradually to have their respective places at the 

 trough, and although they do not consume all the grain, 

 they keep other steers away by remaining to eat silage 

 or hay. Feeding troughs should always be cleaned after 

 each feeding and kept scrupulously sweet. Salt should 

 always be available, as it promotes the animal's thrift 

 and increases his ability to consume feed. 



The great change in feed prices dur- 

 Some Cattle ing and following the world war has 

 Rations to a certain extent invalidated the 



standard rations proposed by the 

 experiment stations. Each state is now conducting in- 

 vestigations on the growing and feeding of cattle with 

 cheap feeds, feeds that in smaller measure compete with 

 human needs. This has limited very markedly the use 

 of grains, so the following rations are composed of cheap 

 and available feeds in the sections of the United States 

 suggested : 



Page Twenty-five 



