384 FACTORS AFFECTING GAIN IN FATTENING 



should be available, three to four pounds per head daily could be 

 used to advantage. It is not safe, however, to feed mangels for a 

 long period as they tend to cause disorders in the urinary tract 

 of males, by producing calculi or stones in the kidneys. 



Of late years, corn silage has come into pretty general use in 

 many sections of the country as a sheep feed. It is not a con- 

 centrate and it is a mistake to regard it as such. Experiments 

 have also demonstrated' that it is not a complete roughage. It has 

 been used as the sole roughage, but the appetite is better, the animals 

 are easier to keep " on feed," and the gains are larger if some dry 

 roughage is used with it. Roughages of rather low feeding value, 

 such as wheat and oat straw, added to grain and silage, materially 

 increase the effectiveness of the ration. In fact, one of the best 

 ways to make good use of these roughages consists in supplementing 

 them with silage and a concentrate comparatively rich in protein. 



As a rule silage when added to a well-balanced ration such as 

 corn and legume hay lowers the cost of fattening, but it does not 

 materially increase the gains. Evidently the succulence has a 

 beneficial effect which is offset by the carbonaceous nature of the 

 silage, for when a nitrogenous concentrate is added the rate of gain 

 is increased. But whether it will pay to add the nitrogenous sup- 

 plement will depend upon how nearly its cost corresponds with the 

 cost of grain forming the bulk of the concentrate part of the ration. 



When fattening lambs are fed grain, legume hay, and silage, 

 their average consumption of silage is about 1.5 poundte per day. 

 It replaces about 0.1 pound of corn and 0.6 pound of hay. If the 

 supply of dry roughage is limited, it is possible to replace still 

 more of it with the silage, but as suggested above, silage should 

 not be the sole roughage in the ration. 



Sorghum silage has been used to a limited extent in the South- 

 west and very good results have been obtained from it. 



Pea silage has been successfully used in fattening sheep and 

 lambs in the vicinity of canning factories. This silage is greatly 

 relished and lambs can eat as much as 7 pounds daily at the 

 beginning of the feeding period without scouring or going "off 

 feed/' Several years ago the writer inspected' the feeding opera- 

 tions of the Columbus Canning Company, Columbus, Wisconsin. 

 This company was putting what the market calls fancy-finish on 



