70 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



Conclusions. 

 In answer to question 1 : Wliat rations are best to pro- 

 duce the greatest growth for the least outlay of money 9 

 The experiment indicates : — 



a. That those coarse fodders should be grown and fed that 

 produce the largest amount of dry matter upon a given area ; 

 leguminous crops are especially valuable as coarse fodders. 



b. Such coarse foods as corn fodder, corn ensilage, corn 

 and soja-bean ensilage, and vetch and oats take the place of 

 hay, and when fed in coml^ination with concentrated nitroge- 

 nous feed stuffs, as in rations given, have produced very 

 favorable results. 



c. Animals are more than machines, — they are living 

 beings, of so complicated a nature that they are very liable 

 to get out of order, or, not being in the proper condition, 

 they fail to respond to the foods fed as expected. Therefore, 

 one experiment is not in itself sufficient to enable any one 

 to judge with certainty as to the comparative merits of 

 different foods, but it serves rather as a link in the chain of 

 evidence. When the experiments in this line are com- 

 pleted, the combined evidence will l)e instrumental in point- 

 ing out lessons of permanent value. 



II. THE COST OF BEEF PEODUCTION. 



For a considerable time the idea has been prevalent among 

 intelligent farmers in Massachusetts that beef production 

 could not be carried on with profit. No extended observa- 

 tions have been made, however, or no accurate accounts 

 kept that would give any facts to show at what price beef 

 could actually be produced ; and in order to answer this 

 question, experiments have been carried on at the station 

 for several years. The following record is presented as a 

 result of the experiment with the two steers already de- 

 scribed. The steers were purchased Nov. 19, 1891, at 3^ 

 cents per pound of live weight, and sold Feb. 28, 189o, at 

 4:\ cents per pound of live weight. They were not put out 

 to pasture during the summer of 1892, but were kept in the 

 barn or turned into the yard, and were fed a variety of green 

 crops with grains. 



