THE BEEF CATTLE INDUSTRY 



387 



troubled with scours than those which 

 received corn as the only grain. 



Recently this matter has been thor- 

 oughly studied by Haney and others at 

 the Kansas experiment station. In this 

 series of experiments, eight rations were 

 used and the grains used in the experi- 

 ments were corn and cob meal, ground 

 kafir corn, ground wheat and a mixed 

 grain ration, the coarse forage being 

 mixed hay, sorghum hay, kafir corn 

 hay and alfalfa hay. The amount of 

 hay required for 100 pounds of gain 

 was lowest in a ration containing corn 

 and cob meal and alfalfa hay and great- 

 est in a ration of ground kafir corn 

 and sorghum hay. The cost of gain 

 was least in the grain and alfalfa ra- 

 tion, and greatest in the kafir corn and 

 sorghum ration. Similarly the dressed 

 weight was highest in the corn and al- 

 falfa ration. In these experiments al- 

 falfa hay proved to be superior to kafir 

 corn hay or sorghum. The amount of 

 gain from a bushel of grain was greatest 

 in the corn and alfalfa ration and least 

 in the kafir corn and sorghum ration. 

 The average profit per steer on the corn 

 and alfalfa ration was $8.98 ; while a loss 

 of $5.14 was suffered on the kafir corn 

 and sorghum ration. 



From the experiments just outlined, 

 it appears that in beef production, kafir 

 corn is about equal to corn and cob meal. 

 Ground wheat and alfalfa hay fed to- 

 gether is not an economic ration, since 

 it is too laxative and the wheat is too 

 expensive. The chief value of these ex- 

 periments lies in the fact that they show 

 the importance to the western farmer of 

 good roughage in beef production. 

 Thus alfalfa hay valued at $4 a ton, 

 together with corn and cob meal, pro- 

 duced 100 pounds of gain in beef 

 steers for $5.1*3. By increasing the 

 acreage of alfalfa, and giving more at- 

 tention to methods of tillage, the prob- 

 lem of securing a supplemental feed to 

 be used with corn is solved, since corn 

 and alfalfa make a cheap and ideal ra- 

 tion. 



Not only in this country, but in Scot- 

 land, England and parts of Europe 

 where corn has been imported for feed- 

 ing purposes, it has been found that 

 corn is greatly increased in efficiency 

 by the addition of linseed meal or some 

 other supplemental feed. Since corn 

 is and must be the main grain used in 

 fattening steers, it is an important ques- 

 tion to determine the form in which it 

 shall be fed. While it is not safe to 



follow blindly the common practice in 

 all matters of feeding, nevertheless the 

 consensus of opinion of practical feed- 

 ers is of immense importance as deter- 

 mining the best and most economical 

 methods. In Illinois it appears, from 

 statistics collected among the beef 

 raisers, that in winter feeding 25 per 

 cent of the farmers use shock corn, 10 

 per cent snapped corn, 39 per cent ear 

 corn, 16 per cent shelled corn, 3 per cent 

 corn and cob meal, 3 per cent corn meal 

 and 2 per cent silage. In the summer feed- 

 ing ear corn is used by 50 per cent of 

 the farmers, shelled corn by 36 per cent 

 and corn meal by 5 per cent. The 

 feeding methods of Illinois farmers, as 

 summarized by Mumford, indicate that 

 for the year around, shock corn is used 

 by 17 per cent, ear corn by 43 per cent, 

 shelled corn by 22 per cent and corn 

 meal by 4 per cent. With regard to the 

 question of which method yields the 

 .greatest profits, 24 per cent of the Illi- 

 nois farmers replied shock corn, 11 

 per cent shredded corn fodder, 5 per cent 

 snapped corn and 5 1 4 per cent shelled 

 corn. It is apparent from the summary 

 of feeding practices that only a very 

 small number of farmers use silage as a 

 regular ration in the production of beef; 

 in fact, only eight of the several hun- 

 dred men who replied to a circular of 

 inquiry mentioned the use of silage at 

 all, and of these, three fed it only to 

 breeding cattle and calves. 



Notwithstanding the inf requency with 

 which silage is used by the Illinois 

 farmers, Mumford found in his ex- 

 periments that silage compares favor- 

 ably with ear corn, corn meal, or corn 

 and cob meal. Corn meal and corn and 

 cob meal proved to be about equally ef- 

 fective. It was found in these experi- 

 ments that a nitrogenous feed added to 

 the corn ration improved the appetite 

 and increased the digestive capacity. 

 Corn meal proved to be about equally ef- 

 ficient for beef production with shelled 

 corn, but no more so than ear corn; 

 while the best results obtained from any 

 of the various forms of corn and com- 

 binations used with it were found in 

 feeding ear corn supplemented with lin- 

 seed meal and gluten meal or shock corn 

 and ear corn. The net profit in feeding 

 steers on corn in various forms varied 

 from $4.13 to $9.84 each. The results 

 obtained by Mumford in his long series 

 of experiments indicate that the grind- 

 ing of corn for feeding two-year-old 

 steers during the winter is not to be 



