326 BULLETIN No. 111. [August, 



more universal interest in this subject in the future. The breeding 

 of beef cattle on high priced land presupposes the economical main- 

 tenance of the cows from which such stock is bred. 



OBJECT 



The object of this experiment was to compare cheap feeds read- 

 ily available on Illinois farms for maintaining beef breeding cows 

 during the winter season. In the selection of the feeds to be fed, 

 an effort was made to use such as are not looked upon as cash crops 

 of the farm but more in the nature of by-products of low commercial 

 value. Also, to study the effect of these various rations upon the 

 general thrift of the cows, in order to determine to what extent such 

 feeds may be used, observations were made of birth weight and 

 gains of offspring calved during the progress of the test. The corn 

 plant in some form was used as the basal part of the rations fed. 



In this connection it might be stated that the author's interpreta- 

 tion of maintaining a pregnant cow is to have her gain sufficiently 

 to account for the growth of the foetus, which at birth weighs fifty to 

 ninety pounds. 



PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT 



Thirty grade Aberdeen-Angus cows, similar in size, conforma- 

 tion, and breeding were secured for this experiment. In breeding 

 they were from one-half to three-fourths Aberdeen- Angus blood, 

 and in age from three to six years. The cows were the result of one 

 or two crosses of choice Aberdeen-Angus bulls on native Missouri 

 cows which contained varying quantities of Short-Horn blood. 



They arrived at the Experiment Station farm December 20, 

 1904. These cows had nursed their calves during the summer and 

 having but recently weaned them, they were thin in flesh, yet thrifty, 

 and by no means emaciated. Perhaps a better idea of their condi- 

 tion may be secured from a reference to Plate i from a photograph 

 which was taken of one of the lots at the beginning of the test. 

 From the time they arrived until the experiment began all received 

 the same feed; namely, corn stover. 



The* thirty cows were divided into three lots of ten each a few 

 days after their arrival at the farm. Great care was exercised to 

 make the lots fully comparable in age, condition, conformation, and 

 size, to insure that whatever differences occurred would be directly 

 referable to the differences in the rations fed. The cows in lot I, 

 received ear label numbers from 471 to 480 inclusive, those in lot 

 2 from 481 to 490 inclusive, and those in lot 3, from 491 to 500 in- 



