FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



were found to be considerably inferior to 

 oats, pound for pound, for cattle, but 

 some benefit was derived from the ad- 

 dition of equal parts fenugreek, cara- 

 way, coriander and aniseed. 



At the Iowa experiment station, Ken- 

 nedy and Marshall carried on an ex- 

 tensive series of experiments with 11 

 lots of steers, in which linseed meal, 

 gluten meal, gluten feed, germ oil meal, 

 dried blood, and certain stock foods were 

 compared. One lot of steers also re- 

 ceived corn and grass without any sup- 

 plemental feed. The average cost of 

 feeding the steers during a fattening 

 period of the usual length was least on 

 a corn ration and greatest on a ration of 

 corn and linseed meal. The selling 



ceived corn and linseed meal, and corn 

 and gluten feed, and lowest in the lot 

 fed on corn and this stock food. 



The two chief claims made by the 

 manufacturers of proprietary feeds are, 

 that their preparations contain a high 

 amount of nutriment and also exercise 

 a beneficial medicinal action. It has 

 been shown by hundreds of experiments, 

 however, that by proper combination of 

 grain feeds the necessary amount of 

 nutrients can be furnished in as avail- 

 able form at a much lower price. In 

 fact, well balanced rations may easily 

 be compounded on any farm by the use 

 of home-grown feeds. Then too, the 

 claims for the medicinal effect of pro- 

 prietary feeds are always overestimated, 



Fig. 265 — ROLL HUSKER CORN SHREDDER 



price of the steers by the hundredweight 

 was highest in the lot which received 

 corn and gluten meal and lowest in 

 those which received corn and one of the 

 stock foods. The net profits to the steer 

 were highest on the ration of corn and 

 gluten meal and lowest on a ration of 

 corn and this stock food, being $17.99 

 and $5.52 respectively. A ration of 

 gluten meal, corn and wheat straw re- 

 turned a profit of $3.50 a steer more 

 than a ration of corn and wheat straw. 

 In this set of experiments it was esti- 

 mated that the price obtained for corn a 

 bushel in the form of beef was $1.04 on 

 the ration of corn and gluten meal, and 

 only 70% cents on the ration of corn 

 and the stock food referred to. The 

 dressed weights in the various lots of 

 steers were highest in those which re- 



for the reason that they contain no un- 

 usual or unknown drugs and these drugs 

 may be obtained in a pure form of regu- 

 lar druggists at a much lower price than 

 must be paid for them in the form of 

 proprietary feeds. 



Roughage for steers — A part of the 

 ration for steers must always consist oi 

 forage plants and roots. This part of 

 the ration may be supplied in the form 

 of pasture, by soiling, and by feeding 

 hay, silage or roots in stalls or feed lots. 

 Recently the importance of this portion 

 of the ration has been shown more clearly 

 than ever before, so that more atten- 

 tion must be given to it if the greatest 

 profits are to be derived from fatten- 

 ing steers. Immense quantities of corn 

 fodder are allowed to go to waste or are 

 burned up, notwithstanding the fact 



