118 FARM ANIMALS 



of the steers. The grain ration may be made as 

 large as the steers will eat clean and with appetite. 

 In Montana it was found that on a ration of nineteen 

 pounds of clover hay per day, more economic gains 

 were obtained when barley was fed in five-pound 

 rations than when fed to the extent of nine pounds. 

 It is calculated, therefore, that the maximum rate 

 of gain is to be secured from barley fed at the rate 

 of one-half pound per hundred pounds live-weight 

 of steers. While it is generally true that the extra 

 gains obtained from heavy grain rations put a 

 finer finish on steers than can be obtained by light 

 grain rations, nevertheless, this is not always the 

 case, and if care is not exercised the extra gains 

 thus obtained may fail to compensate for the extra 

 cost of the ration. When the grain is fed separate 

 from the roughage the steers are likely to chew it 

 too little and swallow it quickly. It may be, 

 therefore, that a considerable portion passes 

 through the alimentary tract undigested. When 

 the grain is mixed with the roughage it has been 

 found that the steers spend some time in chewing 

 the whole ration and, therefore, swallow the grain 

 in a finely cracked condition and exposed to the 

 rapid action of the digestive juices. Some feeders 

 believe, therefore, that the best results are obtained 

 when the feed is so mixed that every mouthful 

 which the steer takes contains some grain and some 

 roughage. 



The amount of grain which is shattered oil in 

 harvesting cereals makes it worth while to graze 

 old stubble fields. A test of the feeding value of 

 shattered grain was made in Montana with the 

 result that the stubble fields were found to be worth 

 $1.50 per acre above the maintenance ration of 

 steers, pigs, and other animals grazed on such fields. 



