86 3 



METHOD OF VALUING THE CATTLE 



The feed lots were visited at the beginning of the trial by Mr. 

 J. T. Alexander of Chicago, who placed a local value on the cattle. 

 At the end of the trial, Messrs. J. T. Alexander and Tom Murray of 

 Chicago, and Joe S. Taylor of Indianapolis, visited the yards and 

 placed values on the cattle on the basis of the Chicago market. 

 Financial statements are based on the local value of feeding cattle, 

 and Chicago price for fat .cattle less 50 cents per hundred pounds. 



QUALITY OF FEEDS 



Rations fed in this trial consisted of various combinations of 

 the following feeds : shelled corn, cottonseed meal, ground soybeans, 

 feeding molasses (cane), Champion Molasses Feed, 1 clover hay, 

 alfalfa hay, oat straw, and corn silage. The corn was of excellent 

 quality at all times. Cottonseed meal was of choice grade guaran- 

 teed to contain 41 per cent, crude protein and 6 per cent, crude fat. 

 The soybeans were purchased in an adjoining county and 'ground 

 in a mill on the Station farm. They showed a composition of 39 per 

 cent, crude protein and 19 per cent, crude fat. The molasses feed 

 was guaranteed to contain 1 1 per cent, crude protein and 2 per cent, 

 crude fat. The clover hay was medium to choice in quality but about 

 one-fourth of it contained a considerable proportion of timothy. The 

 alfalfa hay was grown in the vicinity of Lafayette and was repre- 

 sentative of native alfalfa. The alfalfa fed during the first two and 

 one-half months was choice second cutting, stored loose in a barn and 

 later baled. Before baling, it was of the very best quality but was 

 badly shattered in baling. The alfalfa fed the last two and one-half 

 months was of the first cutting and while a little coarse, carried prac- 

 tically all its leaves. The oat straw was of excellent quality. The 

 corn silage was made from corn grown in the Wabash bottom, yield- 

 ing approximately thirty-five bushels per acre. The corn when put 

 into the silo was ripe enough to shock with comparative safety. 



PRICES OF FEEDS 



The prices of feeds used in presenting financial results are 

 based on the actual market prices at the time the experiment was in 

 progress. The average price of corn in Lafayette was as follows: 

 first month, 60.6 cents ; second month, 66.6 cents ; third month, 62.9 

 cents; fourth month, 63.6 cents; fifth month, 69.4 cents per bushel; 

 ground soybeans, cottonseed meal, and molasses feed $28.00 per ton ; 

 feeding molasses (cane) $1.125 per cwt. ; clover hay $16.00 per ton; 

 alfalfa hay $18.00 per ton ; oat straw $6.00 per ton ; corn silage $5.00 

 per ton. All financial statements are based on the above mentioned 

 prices of feeds. 



1 For a period of eight days no Champion Molasses Feed was available and Sucrene 

 was fed 



