28 Economical Rations in Beef Production. 



and the expense of three weeks' preliminary feeding made the 

 steers cost net Nov. 14th, on the initial weights of the experi- 

 ment, 4.58 cents per hundred as given in the Financial State- 

 ment to follow. 



All steers were yarded at the Experiment Station Oct. 26, 

 1906, and given a liberal feed of hay and but little grain. 

 Owing to the fact that they had never been fed grain it was 

 necessary to sprinkle corn-meal over the hay in order to get 

 them started. They immediately acquired a fondness for 

 corn-meal and a few days later for shelled and snapped corn, 

 the feed being increased from one pound of meal per steer the 

 first day to four pounds of shelled and snapped corn per day 

 by the end of the first week, Nov. 2d. By Nov. 14th, when 

 the records of the experiment were begun, the steers in Lots 

 2 and 3 were each receiving 7.8 pounds of snapped corn in 

 the morning and 6 pounds of the mixture of shelled corn and 

 linseed- or cottonseed-meal at night, the equivalent of 12 

 pounds of grain per day. Owing to the bulky character of 

 bran, which formed about one-fourth of that ration, Lot 1 

 was purposely given a little larger feed of grain to make the 

 quantity of corn correspond more nearly to that fed Lots 2 

 and 3, which received linseed- and cottonseed-meal, forming 

 but 10 per cent of the daily grain ration. On Dec. 12th the 

 ten steers in Lot 1 received 146 pounds of snapped corn in 

 the morning and 84 pounds of shelled corn and 55 pounds of 

 bran at night. The ten in Lot 2 received 146 pounds snapped 

 corn in the morning and 89 pounds shelled corn and 22 

 pounds of linseed-meal at night. Lot 3 received the same ra- 

 tion except that cottonseed-meal was substituted for linseed- 

 meal. On that date, therefore, each steer in Lots 2 and 3 was 

 receiving the equivalent of 19.8 pounds of shelled corn and 

 2.2 pounds of the linseed- or cottonseed-meal, while each steer 

 in Lot 1 received the equivalent of 19.3 pounds of shelled corn 

 and 5.5 pounds of bran. Lot 4 was fed the same quantity as 

 Lots 2 and 3, the grain being corn alone. These four lots 

 were given all the grain they would consume during the last 



