694 



after the carcasses were dressed as it was while on foot; the car- 

 casses of the lambs fed silage twice daily being more plump and 

 more nearly covered with fat than those fed silage once daily. 



PART IV 



COTTONSEED MEAL AS A SUPPLEMENT TO RATIONS 

 FOR FATTENING LAMBS 



The results of the experiments discussed have shown clearly 

 that the use of some kind of leguminous hay such as clover is far 

 superior to the non-leguminous hays such as timothy. One of the 

 chief reasons for the superiority of the clovers over the grasses is 

 that the former contains a much higher per cent, of protein than 

 the latter. Experiments in large numbers are practically unanimous 

 in proving that in order for an animal to make the most rapid 

 gains, the food nutrients in its ration must be in the proportion to 

 each other in which the body of the animal makes use of them. 

 Numerous trials have shown that our principal grain, corn, does not 

 contain protein in sufficient quantities to fully meet the demands 

 of the animal body. Economic conditions are such, however, that 

 corn must continue in the future as it has been in the past to be the 

 mainstay of the livestock industry in the corn-belt. The relative 

 price of feeds has often been such that it was most profitable to 

 feed a ration deficient in protein rather than expend cash for sup- 

 plementary feeds. The high price of corn and other feeding stuffs 

 has of recent years drawn more attention to the question of adding 

 protein in some form to the corn. Since the physiological effect 

 on the animal has long been understood, the present investigations 

 are largely based on the economic questions of relative cost of feeds 

 and the effect on the financial side of the transaction. In these trials 

 cottonseed meal has been fed as the supplement in all cases because 

 it seems to be the most satisfactory source of protein available to 

 feeders in quantities large enough to meet the demand should its 

 use ever assume large proportions. 



THE EFFECT OF ADDING COTTONSEED MEAL TO A RATION OF 

 SHELLED CORN AND TIMOTHY HAY 



The experiments to determine the advisability of 'adding cotton- 

 seed meal to a ration of corn and timothy hay were planned to 

 throw some light on the question of adding a concentrated feed, 

 high in protein, to rations in which both the concentrates and rough- 

 age fed are lacking in this food nutrient. Timothy hay, like corn 

 and like the straws and corn stover and hays from grasses is- defi- 

 cient in protein. In a ration of corn and a non-leguminous hay, the 

 addition of a commercial protein feed would have a much more 

 marked effect than when a leguminous hay is fed with corn. It is 

 in such rations as those in this trial where a commercial protein 

 feed produces the best results. The result of the addition of cotton- 

 seed meal to a ration of shelled corn and timothy hay is shown in 

 Table VI. 



