24 BULLETIN 124 



INTRODUCTION. C , 



The high prices received for beef cattle during the winter of 

 1911-1912 created considerable interest in beef cattle feeding in 

 Pennsylvania. Feeding cattle were high in price in the fall of 1912 

 which kept many farmers from purchasing steers to feed. The 

 large corn and hay crops all over the country reduced the prices 

 received for these feeds as compared to the previous year and 

 brought greater returns to the farmer who fed his crops to cattle 

 than when these feeds were sold on the market. The scarcity of 

 beef cattle had a tendency to hold up the value of cattle during the 

 entire winter and spring, resulting in substantial profits from feed- 

 ing steers. 



The results reported in this experiment are similar to those ob- 

 tained by many feeders in Pennsylvania. 



The financial results obtained in this test should not be taken 

 as typical of what may be accomplished every year, as the price at 

 which cattle are purchased and the market price of farm feeds and 

 the selling price of the cattle are the determining factors. How- 

 ever, if reasonable prices can be obtained from the feeds grown on 

 the farm by feeding cattle, it is often better to dispose of these crops 

 in that way than to sell them on the market. When crops are sold 

 from the farm each year, a large amount of fertility is lost to the 

 farm which would remain if the crops were marketed through cat- 

 tle. Not only would the fertility remain on the farm, but a market 

 would be established for many unsalable farm crops. 



Object. 



The object of this experiment was to obtain additional informa- 

 tion upon the feeding value of corn silage and mixed hay as roughage 

 in feeding cattle. Also to further investigate the advisability of hav- 

 ing the ration made up largely of roughage during the early part of 

 the feeding period and of adding grain during the latter part. Pre- 

 vious experiments at this Station indicate that it is more desir- 

 able to feed a large amount of roughage during the early part of the 

 feeding period and to add grain to the ration during the latter part. 

 By this method of feeding, the daily gains made were not as large 

 as when grain was fed the entire time, but the gains were made 



