FEEDS FOR BEEF CATTLE 487 



at the same price per ton. In this trial the peanut meal did not seem to 

 be quite so palatable as the cottonseed meal. (258) 



Peanut feed, or ground whole pressed peanuts, containing 36.1 per ct. 

 protein and 22.4 per ct. fiber was found by Burns to be slightly less 

 valuable than cold-pressed cottonseed cake containing 26.8 per ct. protein 

 and 21.2 per ct. fiber. 



Velvet beans, commonly fed in the pod, have become an important 

 feed for beef cattle in the South. (264) Often corn and velvet beans are 

 grown together and steers are grazed on the crop after most of the ears 

 of corn have been gathered. (361) 



Velvet beans in the pod should be ground, or soaked for 24 hours to 

 soften the hard pods. In 3 trials by Templeton, Ferguson, and Gibbens 

 of the Alabama Station 74 steers fed velvet beans in the pod and corn or 

 sorghum silage gained on the average 1.55 Ibs. a head daily, while others 

 fed cottonseed meal and silage averaged 1.65 Ibs. In these trials, with 

 cottonseed meal at $40.00 and silage at $4.00 per ton, velvet beans in the 

 pod were worth $21.80. In a trial by Scott at the Florida Station 75 steers 

 fed a ration of 12 Ibs. velvet beans in the pod, 8 Ibs. corn, and 10 Ibs. 

 cottonseed meal made considerably larger and cheaper gains than others 

 fed 6.5 Ibs. cottonseed meal and 25 Ibs. cottonseed hulls. 



III. LEGUME HAY AND OTHER DRY ROUGHAGES 



761. Value of legume hay. The great importance of hay from the 

 legumes in balancing the carbonaceous grains, such as corn, barley, and 

 wheat, has already been pointed out. (732) On account of their richness 

 in protein and also because of their palatability, the legume hays are 

 the most valuable of dry roughages. Even when a ration of corn and 

 such dry carbonaceous roughages as timothy hay, prairie hay, or corn 

 fodder is properly supplemented by linseed or cottonseed meal or some 

 other protein-rich concentrate, smaller gains will nearly always be pro- 

 duced than when the ration consists of corn and legume hay. This is 

 shown in the following table, which summarizes the results secured in 

 4 trials in which 2-year-old 942-lb. steers were fed for periods averaging 

 158 days : 



Average ration gain Concentrates Roughage 



Lbs. 



Legume hay vs. carbonaceous roughage plus nitrogenous supplement 



Daily Feed for 100 Ibs. gain 



centrates Rough 

 Lbs. Lbs. 



Lot I, total of 40 steers* 



Legume hay, 9.3 Ibs. Corn, 17.9 Ibs ............... 2.3 778 405 



Lot II, total of 42 steers* 



Carbonaceous roughage 8.0 Ibs. Corn, 16.4 Ibs. 

 Supplement, 2.2 Ibs ............................ 2.0 916 387 



*Av. of 1 trial by Bliss and Lee (Nebr. Bui. 151), 1 by Mumford (111. Bui. 83), 1 by Skinner and Cochel 

 (Ind. Bui. 115), and 1 by Smith (Nebr. Bui. 90). 



74 Ala. Buls. 192, 198; Cir. 40. 75 Fla. Bui. 102. 



