20 



OHIO EXPERIMENT STATION: BULLETIN 187 



shown. With such negative results, no reason is apparent for using 

 stock food, as there is necessarily some added expense and some 

 inconvenience in feeding it. Tests of various proprietary stock 

 foods at other stations and with other kinds of stock have shown no 

 great advantage from them, and evidence is not at hand to warrant 

 any encouragement of their use on the contrary, the bulk of evi- 

 dence indicates that their use should be discouraged. 



HEAVY AND MEDIUM CORN RATIONS. 



As previously stated, the plan of this experiment provided for a 

 comparison of a heavy corn ration with a moderate one. The grain 

 allowance for Lot 3 was increased more rapidly than was that for Lot 

 4, the purpose being to feed Lot 3 one-sixth more corn than Lot 4 re- 

 ceived. This amount proved to be more than they would eat, and 

 the total grain eaten by Lots 3 and 4 was 5,733.75 pounds and 5,285.25 

 pounds, respectively; that is, the lambs in Lot 3 ate about one-twelfth 

 more grain than did those in Lot 4. The increased grain consump- 

 tion was, naturally, accompanied by a lower consumption of rough- 

 age, 5,416 pounds by Lot 3, as compared with 5,640.5 pounds by Lot 4. 



So far as consumption of food for 100 pounds gain is concerned, 

 the results of this comparison show an advantage from the use of 

 the heavier grain ration, as is shown by Table IV, page 17. 



TABLE VII Cost per hundred pounds gain for Lots 3 and 4 with feeds at various prices. 



Table VII shows the effect of a heavy grain ration as influenced 

 by varying market prices of hay and corn. It will be observed that 

 with clover hay at $6.00 per ton and corn at 60 cents per bushel the 

 cost of gains made under the two systems would be practically 

 equal. With hay higher and corn the same price, or lower, the gains 

 would cost somewhat less with the heavier corn ration. Not only 

 would the gains be cheaper but the feeding period would be shorter, 

 thus decreasing the cost of labor, interest on investment, and in- 

 surance. 



The feeding of a heavy corn ration requires closer watchfulness 

 on the part of the feeder and is doubtless associated with an 

 added possibility of loss due to over-feeding. The differences which 

 were observed in this test are not particularly large, and may not be 



