CALF FEEDING IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. 47 



Cottonseed meal proved a very satisfactory concentrated ration 

 for the calves while on grass and also when being fed silage during 

 the winter. There was a greater tendency for the cottonseed-meal- 

 fed calves to grow instead of fattening than was the case with the 

 calves fed on shelled corn supplemented with cottonseed meal. The 

 cottonseed-meal-fed calves made satisfactory and economical gains 

 when the kind and condition of pasture were considered, as the sum- 

 mer of 1916 was a most unfavorable one in the prairie of Mississippi 

 for fattening cattle on grass. 



The experiment indicates also that where corn can not be marketed 

 readily it can be fed to calves very satisfactorily and at a good return. 

 The corn-fed calves made better although more expensive gains than 

 the calves fed on cottonseed meal alone. If the profits on the hogs 

 and the increased selling price of the calves are taken into considera- 

 tion, the corn-fed calves made almost as much profit as the others. 



If all the feeds except corn are charged at market prices and the 

 profit is considered, the value of the corn fed to the calves gave a 

 return of $1.57 per bushel for every bushel of corn consumed. It 

 is seen, therefore, that the feeding of corn would have been exceed- 

 ingly profitable to the man who could not have sold his corn in any 

 other way and would have been much more profitable to market it 

 in this way if a good market had been accessible. 



Should the farmer who can sell his corn readily and purchase 

 cottonseed meal for feeding sell his corn or feed it? To answer this 

 question let us see at what price he would have to charge his corn to 

 the calves in order to make as much profit as the cottonseed-meal-fed 

 calves made. In this experiment, if the shelled corn had been charged 

 at 77 cents per bushel, the calves of each lot would have made the 

 same profit, namely, $10 per head. If corn could not have been sold 

 for enough over 77 cents per bushel for preparing it for market and 

 marketing, it would have been much more profitable to feed it to 

 calves than to sell it. This test indicates clearly that with good 

 calves corn can be fed at a profit even though it is worth a high price. 

 The better the calves, the more expensive corn can be fed without 

 danger of loss. With scrub or cheap cattle the southern farmer can 

 not afford to use high-priced corn. 



In these experiments no charge has been made for labor, nor any 

 credit given for the manure produced. The value of the manure 

 will overbalance the cost of feeding, so that there is an indirect profit 

 in calf-feeding which has not been included or discussed in the 

 results. 



This experiment indicates that while cattle are high-priced and 

 good pastures can be obtained for grazing purposes, the problem of 

 what to do with short-aged or late calves may be solved very profit- 

 ably by handling in the same manner tried out in this test.. 



