320 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



Station -^ in which growing beef calves were fed either corn silage or 

 shock corn from the same field, with 2 lbs. of oats and 4.0 to 4.6 lbs. 

 of mixed hay per head daily. The silage-fed calves made slightly 

 larger gains, but the chief advantage lay in the fact that more of the 

 shock corn was wasted and hence the corn from a much larger area 

 was needed to feed the steers getting shock corn than for those fed 

 silage. Taking everything into consideration, the corn silage from 

 an acre was worth 30 per ct. more than the shock corn from the 

 same area. In a trial at the ]\Iissouri Station -^ with fattening steers 

 the difference was still greater, silage being worth over 50 per ct. 

 more than the shock corn from the same area. 



Silage from other crops. — In silage from the sorghums the feeder 

 of the semi-arid regions has an admirable substitute for corn silage. 

 In 3 trials at the Kansas Station 23 steer calves were wintered on about 

 26 lbs. of corn, kafir, or sweet sorghum silage per head daily, with 1 

 lb. of cottonseed meal or 1 lb. of corn and 1 lb. of linseed meal in 

 addition. All lots made satisfactory gains and the several kinds of 

 silage had about the same feeding value. The feeder in this section 

 should grow for silage whichever crop will yield the greatest tonnage. 



The southern beef producer has available not only corn silage but 

 also silage from sweet sorghum, corn or sorghum grown with cowpeas 

 or soybeans, and, in the Gulf region, Japanese cane. 



Roots. — Wherever corn or the sorghums thrive, silage from these 

 crops provides cheaper succulence than do roots. In northern dis- 

 tricts where root crops flourish but where corn will not mature suffi- 

 ciently for silage, roots are a valuable feed for beef cattle. When 

 only 6 to 9 lbs. was fed per head daily, roots proved fully equal, 

 pound for pound, to good corn silage in a trial at the South Dakota 

 Station. 2* At the Ontario Agricultural College,-^ where larger al- 

 lowances of roots were fed, silage had a somewhat higher value per 

 100 lbs. than roots, due to the larger percentage of dry matter it con- 

 tains. 



In Great Britain roots are extensively used for fattening cattle, 

 from 35 to as much as 150 lbs. per head daily being fed along with 

 6 to 7 lbs. protein-rich concentrates, such as linseed meal, cottonseed 

 meal, dried brewers' and distillers' grains, and peanut cake. The 

 roots are commonly pulped and mixed with the concentrates and hay 

 or straw before feeding. By this means large amounts of cheap 

 roughages are utilized. On this small allowance of concentrates and 



21 Mumford, 111. Bui. 73. 



22 Allison, Mo. Bui. 112. 



23Cochel, Kan. Bui. 198; Kan. Industrialist, Apr. 18, 1914, May 1, 1915. 



24 Wilson, S. D. Bui. 137. 



25 Day, Ont. Agr. Col., Rpts. 1901, 1902. 



