FEEDS FOR BEEF CATTLE 313 



seed meal as a supplement to eoru and prairie hay or corn stover, and 

 produced considerably larger gains than when the ration was sup- 

 plemented by wheat bran. 



Wheat bran. — Since wheat bran is lower in protein than linseed 

 or cottonseed meal, a correspondingly larger amount is needed to 

 balance a ration deficient in this nutrient. It is therefore frequently 

 an expensive supplement for fattening cattle. However, this bulky 

 feed is helpful in starting cattle on feed, even tho it is not continued 

 thruout the fattening period. 



Soybeans; cowpeas. — These protein-rich seeds are well suited to 

 supplement corn and the other cereals. In trials at the Indiana Sta- 

 tion " ground soybeans gave good returns when 2.5 to 3.0 lbs. was 

 fed per head daily to supplement a ration of shelled corn, corn silage, 

 and oat straw or clover hay. They were somewhat less satisfactory 

 than cottonseed meal, however, for the steers fed soybeans were more 

 apt to go off feed near the end of the fattening period, due undoubt- 

 edly to the large amount of oil the beans contain. With soybean meal, 

 which contains much less oil, this condition would probably not result. 



In the southern states it is possible to grow a winter crop of small 

 grain and harvest it in time to plant soybeans, cowpeas, or corn, thus 

 securing 2 crops each year from the same land. At the Tennessee 

 Station ^° in a 7-year trial an acre of winter barley, followed by 

 soybeans grown for grain and stover, produced 508 lbs. of gain 

 when fed to steers, while an acre of barley followed by cowpeas gave 

 451 lbs. of gain. These returns show the great possibilities of thg 

 South for beef production when more than a single crop is grown on 

 the same land each year. 



Miscellaneous protein-rich concentrates. — Tho most commonly 

 fed to dairy cows, gluten feed, dried distillers' grains, and dried 

 brewers' grcvins are all satisfactory protein-rich concentrates for beef 

 cattle. Whether to use these feeds in place of those already dis- 

 cussed will depend on their relative price. 



III. Legume Hay and Other Dry Roughages 



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

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

 and wheat, has been pointed out earlier in this chapter. Even when 

 a ration of com and such oarbonaceaus 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 



9 Skinner and King, Ind. Buls. 167, 178; information to the authors. 



10 Quereau and Willson, information to the authors. 



