510 FEEDS AND FEEDING 



rather than net energy for productive purposes. (90) Rusk has there- 

 fore carried on extensive experiments at the Illinois Station 4 to find 

 whether beef cows can be maintained chiefly on corn stover silage 

 (silage from field cured fodder from which the ears have been husked). 

 In these trials a ration of a little over 60 Ibs. corn stover silage and 1 

 Ib. of cottonseed or linseed meal maintained cows in rather spare con- 

 dition at a cost less than one-third as great as when corn silage containing 

 the ears was used. In a trial by Bohstedt at the Ohio Station 5 corn stover 

 silage was worth less than half as much per ton as normal corn silage 

 for maintaining beef breeding cows in winter. In ensiling corn stover 

 the precautions mentioned in an earlier chapter must be observed to 

 secure a good quality of feed. (300) 



Corn stover is not as efficient a feed as properly preserved corn stover 

 silage, for the latter is more palatable and is consumed with less waste. 

 However, dry corn stover is often one of the most economical feeds for 

 beef cows on farms where it can not be readily ensiled. Bright oat or 

 barley straw can also serve as a considerable part of the rations for 

 wintering such cattle. If these feeds are combined with legume hays, 

 no concentrates need be fed. About 5 to 10 Ibs. of alfalfa or clover hay, 

 with 10 to 15 Ibs. of corn stover or straw (about all they will eat) will 

 provide satisfactory rations for mature beef cows. Stover or straw may 

 be fed with a half allowance of silage (25 to 30 Ibs. per head daily) and 

 1 Ib. of such a protein-rich supplement as cottonseed or linseed meal. 



Corn stover proved more valuable, ton for ton, than mixed hay or oat 

 straw in a trial by Tomhave and Hultz at the Pennsylvania Station 6 in 

 which 1,100 to 1,200-lb. beef cows were wintered on rations of 30 Ibs. 

 corn silage and 1 Ib. of cottonseed meal, with these dry roughages in ad- 

 dition. 



790. Winter rations for beef cows in other sections. In the alfalfa 

 districts of the West, beef cows can be carried thru the winter on alfalfa 

 hay alone. However, usually they may be maintained more economically 

 if some lower grade roughage, such as straw or stover, is fed as part of 

 the ration. Arnett found in trials at the Montana Station 7 that while 

 cows maintained their weights better on 10 Ibs. of hay a day plus 

 all the oat and barley straw they would eat, than when fed only 5 Ibs. 

 of hay with the straw, the difference in the strength and condition was 

 not sufficient to warrant the heavier feeding of hay. Even wheat straw, 

 which is of lower feeding value than oat or barley straw, may be utilized 

 for wintering beef cows or stocker steers. 



Good straw can be used as the only feed for wintering mature breeding 

 cattle in mild winters and when the cattle are fat in the fall, tho they 

 lose weight on such a ration. Trials by Arnett and by McCampbell at 

 the Kansas Station 8 show that if 1 to 2 Ibs. per head daily of cottonseed 



4 Hoard's Dairyman, 57, 1919, pp. 1106-7. "Information to the authors. 



5 Information to the authors. 7 Mont. Cir. 85. 



8 Fort Hays, Kansas Station, Rpt. of Progress, Livestock Expts., 1920-21. 



