40 SILAGE IN BEEF PRODUCTION. 



Silage Good for Stockers. 



"Experiments were also conducted for two years with 

 the object of ascertaining which was the best rations to 

 feed to animals which it is desired to maintain as cheaply 

 as possible and still keep in a growing, vigorous condition 

 throughout the winter. It is naturally essential that the 

 rations be not fattening in nature or the animals will drift 

 much worse when put on grass, but it seems very desirable 

 than some grains should be secured rather than feed the 

 animals very considerable quantities of expensive foods 

 as is^now often the case, and have them actually lose in 

 live weight rather than make gains during the winter sea- 

 son. It has generally been held that silage alone could 

 not make a satisfactory winter ration for stockers, and 

 so this point has been carefully investigated in the present 

 experiment. It has generally been held that cattle fed a 

 watery succulent ration in the winter would drift very 

 badly when placed on grass. This matter will be discussed 

 under the appropriate heading, as the results obtained 

 this year are particularly encouraging and in a matter of 

 economy favor silage quite markedly. 



Summary Results of 1905-6 and 1906-7. 



"In conclusion, a summary of the results of feeding 124 

 head of cattle is presented. Sixty-eight of these cattle 

 were fed to a finish in the stall, and fifty-six were carried 

 through as stockers and finished on grass. The average 

 of the results obtained with such a large number of cattle 

 should be fairly reliable. The figures for both years cor- 

 respond quite closely and show straight silage, or silage 

 and grain to be the most economical ration for use with 

 stockers in the winter. Moreover very much larger profits 

 can be secured from handling stockers with the price of 

 foodstuffs as charged in this report than can be anticipated 

 from stall feeding. This does not mean that stall feeding 

 can not be practiced in some sections with advantage 



