GENERAL PROBLEMS IN BEEF PRODUCTION 469 



not been common in this country, however, for roughages have usually 

 not been high enough in price to justify much labor or expense in their 

 preparation. Under present conditions, due to increased freight rates, 

 hay is high priced in sections where the local supply is insufficient to 

 meet the demand, tho in sections of the West where there is a surplus of 

 hay, it is low in price. Chopping or cutting hay for fattening cattle 

 will usually be profitable only if it is relatively high in price. In 

 trials by Potter and Withycombe at the Oregon Station 43 chopping alfal- 

 fa hay increased its value 28 per ct. when steers were fed only alfalfa 

 hay. This was because the steers ate more hay, and a smaller pro- 

 portion was wasted. For steers fed silage and hay or barley and hay, 

 the chopping increased the value of the hay only 7 to 14 per ct. With 

 feeds at war-time prices Gramlich of the Nebraska Station 44 secured 

 greater profit from steers fed a mixture of chopped alfalfa, cracked corn, 

 and cottonseed meal, than from others fed long alfalfa hay, shelled corn, 

 and the same supplement. 



From a trial at the Idaho Station, 45 Hickman, Rinehart, and Johnson 

 point out that during rainy seasons hay which is stored in stacks should 

 not be cut unless there is ample shelter available for storing it. Other- 

 wise it will become moldy. Fed alone to steers, alfalfa meal was inferior 

 to good uncut alfalfa hay. 



731. The paved feed lot In parts of the corn belt the feed lot in 

 winter often becomes a sea of mud and mire. Mumford of the Illinois 

 Station 46 fed one carload of steers during winter in a brick-paved lot and 

 another in an ordinary mud lot, both lots having access to an open shed, 

 the bedding in which was kept dry. Due to this fact the paved-lot steers 

 made no cheaper gains than the others. However, because of their dirty 

 appearance, tho not inferior finish, the mud-lot steers sold for 10 cents 

 less per 100 Ibs. Pigs following the paved-lot steers gained 1 Ib. more 

 from each bushel of corn fed to the steers than did those following the 

 mud-lot steers. In a trial by Pew, Eward, and Dunn at the Iowa Sta- 

 tion 47 one lot of steers was fed in a paved and another in an unpaved 

 lot, each lot having access to an open shed with a concrete floor. The 

 steers in the paved lot made slightly larger gains and sold for a trifle 

 more per cwt. Due chiefly to the fact that the pigs following the steers 

 in the paved lot were able to recover more corn grain, the gains on this 

 lot were slightly less expensive. The net returns per head from these 

 steers were $4.49 more than for those in the unpaved lot. 



43 0re. Bui. 174. "Beef Production, p. 155. 



"Neb. Bui. 174. "Beef Production, p. 155. 



"Idaho Cir. 18. 47 Iowa Bui. 182. 



