RAISING BEEF CATTLE 519 



Waters secured much poorer gains from timothy, millet, or sorghum hay 

 fed with corn than from clover, alfalfa, or cowpea hay and corn, due to 

 the fact that the former rations were very low in protein. Where the 

 roughage was half corn stover and half clover hay, the gains were good. 



Silage from corn or the sorghums is usually an exceedingly economical 

 feed for wintering steers, as it produces good gains at low cost. In 

 trials during 3 years in West Virginia 29 by Sheets and Tuckwiller, year- 

 ling steers wintered on 20.0 Ibs. corn silage, 5.0 Ibs. mixed clover and 

 timothy hay, and 2.5 Ibs. wheat straw maintained their weights, while 

 others fed mixed hay and wheat straw lost in weight. During the winter 

 and the following summer the silage-fed steers gained a total of 316 Ibs. 

 each at a feed cost of 7.2 cents per Ib. gain. The steers wintered on 

 dry feed, as is the common practice in this district, gained only 274 

 Ibs. each during the year, at a cost of 8.6 cents for each pound of gain. 

 On a ration of corn silage, wheat straw, and 1 Ib. of cottonseed meal, the 

 gains were the largest and the cost per Ib. gain only 6.9 cents. 



In 3 trials at the Kentucky Station 30 with steers carried thru the 

 winter and fattened on grass alone the following summer, Good found 

 a ration of 28 Ibs. corn silage, 1.5 Ibs. cottonseed meal, and what stover 

 or straw the steers would eat, more economical, considering both winter 

 and summer gains, than when dry feed only was used. Corn silage alone, 

 without any protein-rich supplement, was found to be the most economical 

 ration for wintering 2-year-old steers, considering both winter and sum- 

 mer, in trials by Hunt at the Virginia Station. 31 These steers, fed 40 Ibs. 

 of silage a head daily, lost 45 Ibs. each on the average during the winter, 

 but were in thrifty condition and made large gains on pasture the follow- 

 ing summer. Steers fed 1 Ib. of cottonseed meal daily in addition to silage 

 more than maintained their weights in winter, but they did not make as 

 large gains on pasture as those fed silage alone in winter. In fact, their 

 total gain was less than for the steers wintered on the unbalanced ration 

 of corn silage alone. In these trials mixed clover and timothy hay proved 

 a better supplementary roughage for silage than either corn stover or 

 straw, doubtless because it was richer in protein. 



In the Appalachian region south of Kentucky and Virginia steers are 

 often wintered on rough pasture land on which stock has not been grazed 

 in summer. In trials in western North Carolina, 32 steers pastured on 

 such land in winter maintained their weights better than others fed 

 corn silage alone ; or mixed hay alone ; or a ration of corn silage, straw, 

 and stover. It was found that 2 acres of mountainous cut-over land 

 properly seeded would carry a steer over winter and that 3 acres addi- 

 tional would provide good summer pasture. 



799. Raising beef heifers; age to breed. It is very important that the 

 heifers retained for the breeding herd make good growth and develop - 



*U. S. D. A. Bui. 870. "Hy. Cir. 75. Va. Bui. 215. 



"Curtis, Farley, and Peden, N. C. Bui. 243; U. S. D. A. Bui. 954. 



