6i 



This perhaps does not apply to the same extent to animals 

 fed lightly or in thin condition. 



THE VALUE OF ROUGHAGE IN FULL FEEDING. 



The statements of the individual feeders in the large tables 

 under "Methods of Feeding" clearly reveal a striking lack of 

 uniformity in their judgment and practice with reference to 

 roughage. The question was put to them directly : 



Question 15. "What roughness do you prefer during the 

 fattening period, and do you allow the steers to have all of it 

 they will eat?" 



It will be observed that in this one question we raised two 

 important points in relation to the fattening of steers, namely, 

 the kind of roughness and the quantity to use. It is unfortunate 

 that they were not put in separate questions, so that we might 

 have secured direct expressions on each point. We are able, 

 however, to get some notion of the esteem in .which these prac- 

 tical feeders hold different roughnesses from the summary of 

 their answers. 



The Feeder's Estimate of the Value of Different Kinds of 

 Roughness. 



The answers to this question have been incorpor- 

 ated in the remarks under "Methods of Feeding" because they 

 are of such a nature as to be very difficult to condense into tab- 

 ular form. As has already been pointed out, the most impres- 

 sive fact in connection with the answers to this particular ques- 

 tion is the great variety of opinions. The summary of the an- 

 swers from Missouri, given below, covers every kind of rough- 

 ness produced on the farm, from the husks on snapped corn 

 alone, to the best quality of clover or alfalfa hay fed to the full 

 limit of the appetite of the animal. Out of a total of 416 answers 

 to this question from 42 counties, it is interesting to observe 

 that their preferences were as follows: 



