16 TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



prices of $7.65 per hundredweight for Lot 3 and $7.75 per hundred- 

 weight for Lot 4, rice bran could have cost $22.92 a ton and proved of 

 equal value to the ground milo heads at $20.00 a ton. It was very evident 

 that the milo heads, which contained about 75 per cent, grain, were 

 much more palatable than the rice bran. When the latter is used it is 

 very important that it be fresh and of good quality and that it be fed 

 during the fall and winter months. During warm weather it becomes 

 rancid very quickly and in such condition cattle do not relish it and 

 it deteriorates in feeding value. 



3. Based on the final weight at Fort Worth, Lot 5, that had had 

 access to a shed open on the south side, grainer) 23 pounds a head more 

 than Lot 1, fed in a similar pen without shelter, both having received 

 the same kind and amount of feed. Had Lot 5 sold .for $7.35 per 

 hundredweight, the price for which Lot 1 sold, there would have been 

 a difference in profit in its favor of $1.40 a head. The reason Lot 5 

 sold for a lower price, $7.20 per hundredweight, was evidently due 

 to two rather light, inferior steers that it contained, which caused a 

 lack of uniformity in comparison with Lot 1. 



4. Lot 4, which had received cotton seed meal, silage, and ground 

 milo heads, made the best gain and showed the best finish. This lot, 

 together with Lots 2 and 3, shrank considerably less than Lots 1 and 5 

 in being shipped to market. 



5. The results with the hogs indicate that there is quite a danger 

 of loss in having them follow cattle that are receiving full rations of 

 cotton seed meal. Previous tests indicate, however, that they may 

 follow, with a fair degree of safety, cattle that are receiving only enough 

 cotton seed meal 3 to 4 pounds for each 1000 pounds of live weight 

 a day to balance their ration. It is probably true, too, that in feeding 

 grain and in having hogs follow the cattle that the best results will be 

 obtained in feeding only enough cotton seed meal to balance the ration. 

 The rations for Lots 3 and 4 in this test, on account of the full amounts 

 of cotton seed meal fed, were much narrower than the feeding standards, 

 for fattening cattle require. On the other hand, the abundance and 

 relative cheapness of cotton seed meal and cake in the South justify 

 the use of narrower rations than are used for fattening cattle in the 

 corn belt. 



6. The results of the experiment show very clearly that without a 

 greater margin or spread between the prices for feeders and the prices 

 for fat cattle than was had in this case, there is practically no direct 

 profit in feeding cattle with feeds at the prices herein quoted. The 

 losses incurred by many cattle feeders during the past year have been 

 <lue largely to insufficient increase in the price of fat cattle over feeder 

 cattle. Either finished cattle must sell for better prices or feeders 

 must be bought cheaper, if there is to be sufficient financial inducement 

 for people to continue or to engage in the cattle feeding business. 



