Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 41 



economical gains. The steers in the lot receiving whole beans in the 

 pod consumed their feed more readily than the lot getting ground 

 beans. They also made larger daily gains, cheaper gains, and dressed 

 a higher percentage by market weights. The added cost of preparing 

 the beans for Lot 2 reduced the profit $2.09 a head. These steers sold 

 for $12 per 100 pounds, which was the highest price ever paid at the 

 St. Louis market for native Piney Woods steers up to that time. 

 However, fat grade steers showing crosses of pure-bred beef blood, 

 and averaging 1,247 pounds each, sold the same day for $15.25 per 

 100 pounds. 



At the station during the winter of 1917, 18 head of grade breed- 

 ing cows, 7 of which had calves at foot, were fed a maintenance 

 ration of corn silage and velvet beans in a dry lot. The cows main- 

 tained their weight for 46 days on a ration of 20 pounds of silage and 

 4 pounds of velvet beans in the pod. The cost of this ration per 

 head was 10 cents a day when silage was charged at $5 a ton and 

 velvet beans at $25 a ton. 



Twenty head of pure-bred breeding cows, 4 of which had calves 

 at foot, were fed 70 days on a ration of velvet beans crushed in the 

 pod, and corn silage. These cows gained 15 pounds a head for the 

 period on an average daily ration of 7.9 pounds beans and 26.5 

 pounds of silage. The cost of the ration was 18 cents a day when 

 silage was charged at $5 a ton and ground beans at $29 a ton. 



Although the high value of velvet beans as a soil-improving crop 

 and a cheap home-grown feed are now generally recognized, as is 

 evidenced by the enormous increase in the acreage grown in the last 

 few years, the possibilities of this feed have been barely touched 

 even in the region which is its natural home. To northern and west- 

 ern feeders who annually buy large quantities of protein feeds the 

 velvet bean is still a curiosity. A few years ago the Piney Woods 

 were looked upon as a future field for the production of large num- 

 bers of feeder cattle, to be shipped to other sections for finishing, 

 because no crop had been found which would produce large quanti- 

 ties of feed for fattening cattle. Already that region has become 

 a heavy buyer of western cattle to consume its velvet-bean crop, for 

 which there was no other market except through cattle. 



Corn is fed to cattle in that region in very limited quantities. 

 The total production of corn is not great and some is shipped in 

 each year to be utilized as feed for work stock and for fattening 

 hogs. 



Cottonseed meal, until the advent of velvet beans, was the con- 

 centrate most generally used for feeding cattle, but in recent years 

 its use has diminished rapidly to give place to velvet beans, which 

 could not be marketed so readily as a commercial feed. The demand 



