31 



before the cattle feeders at the present day? " 239 reported, secur- 

 ing feeders; 216, methods of feeding; 284, price of either feeders or 

 of fat cattle; 67 foreign markets; and 52 packers. This would seem 

 to indicate that the question of obtaining good feeders at a price 

 that will justify feeding them out into marketable condition at pre- 

 vailing prices of feeds and fat cattle, is the most serious one that 

 confronts the cattle feeder. Proper methods of feeding steers is 

 another thing that seems to be demanding a great deal of thought 

 and attention. It would also indicate that the cattle feeders realize 

 that under present conditions they will have to change their former 

 methods of feeding in order to obtain any profit from the operation. 

 - In answer to question 99, ' ' What information in regard to meth- 

 ods of feeding would enable the feeder to handle cattle more profit- 

 ably ? "there were a great variety of answers. In the majority of 

 cases information in regard to the proper methods of selecting and 

 preparing the ration from farm grown feeds was considered as most 

 important. 



FEEDING VS. MARKET VALUE OF FARM CROPS. 



In answer to question 100 as to the relative feeding and market 

 value of different crops that are grown upon the farm, it will be 

 interesting to give a complete statement of the average of all answers 

 which is shown in the following table : 



Aver. Selling 

 price. 



Corn per bushel $ .39 



Oats per bushel .28 



Clover hay (loose) 5.56 



Timothy hay (loose) 7.47 



Oat straw ___- . 3.00 



Shredded fodder 4.28 



Wheat straw 2.34 



Corn fodder , per shock .17 



Stalk field, per acre .72 



This matter is of great interest to cattle feeders and would in- 

 dicate that not only is it possible to grow greater crops on lands 

 devoted to this business, but that these same crops will bring from 

 2 per cent in the case of timothy hay, to 43 per cent more in the case 

 of stalk fields, when fed to beef cattle than when sold on the market. 

 It is also interesting to note that general practice agrees very largely 

 with the summary of these reports, in that the crops usually grown 

 and fed to beef cattle, such as corn, corn stalks in various forms, 

 and clover hay, show a much greater difference between selling price 

 and feeding value than do timothy hay and wheat straw. 



