1906.] RATIONS FOR BEEF BREEDING Cows. 327 



elusive. Corn silage, shock corn, corn stover, clover hay, and oat 

 straw were the feeds used. These were charged to the cows at the 

 following rates : 



Corn silage $3-34 per ton. 



Shock corn 5.59 per ton. 



Corn stover 2.25 per ton. 



Shredded stover 2.25 per ton 



Clover hay 8.06 per ton. 



Oat straw 1.50 per ton. 



Each lot was fed a ration made up of the following feeds : 



Lot i. Corn silage, clover hay, and oat straw. 

 Lot 2. Shock corn, clover hay, and oat straw. 

 Lot 3. Corn stover and oat straw, (to March 8, 1905), corn 

 stover, oat straw, and clover hay, (March 8 to May 16, 1905.) 



In order to determine whether or not siloing the corn made 

 the corn plant more valuable for wintering these cows, the amount 

 of corn and its accompanying roughage fed in each instance was 

 the same. This calculation was made on the basis of the amount of 

 corn in a given amount of silage and shock corn respectively. The 

 silage was 28.09 percent, and the shock corn 53.68 percent ear corn. 

 Oat straw was used for bedding the cows and since this roughage 

 constituted a portion of their feed some precaution was necessary 

 to prevent the cows consuming straw of which no record could be 

 secured. This point was guarded by keeping good fresh oat straw 

 where the cows could eat it at will. The rejected portions only 

 were used for bedding. 



The amount of corn stover fed was regulated by carefully noting 

 the amount the cows would clean up well without material waste. 

 The corn stover reserved for feeding lot 3 was all used by Febru- 

 ary 7 and it was necessary to substitute in its place some shredded 

 stover. The shredded stover available at the time was apparently 

 too dry when shredded, and as a consequence the cows did not relish 

 it as well as they did the natural stover. However, the cows in lot 3 

 were fed shredded stover and oat straw until March 8. By this 

 time they would not consume to exceed four or five pounds of 

 stover each daily. This was not sufficient to maintain them, so in or- 

 der to prevent them from losing in weight three pounds of clovei 

 hay per cow per day were added to the ration. March 15 an excel- 

 lent lot of shredded corn stover was secured. This was liked better 

 by the cows in lot 3, but there was no mistaking the fact that the 

 cows preferred the stover in its natural rather than its shredded 

 form. 



The quality of the silage, shock-corn, and straw was choice; 



