10 BULLETIN 762, U: S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
tive value of cottonseed hulls, corn silage, and a combination: of 
cottonseed hulls and corn silage for fattening steers, with cottonseed 
meal as the sole concentrate. 
The steers were bought in the fall and started on a preliminary 
feed of cottonseed meal and cottonseed hulls on October 8, 1914. On 
October 25 corn silage was introduced in the ration and the feeding 
continued until November 12, when the steers were divided into 
three lots and started in the regular feeding experiment on Novem- 
ber 13. 
The work was conducted upon the farm of Mr. Ben Walker, of 
Abbott, Miss. Mr. Walker furnished the cattle, the feeds, and all 
equipment except such things as feed baskets, small scales, etc., 
which were furnished by the Mississippi experiment station. The 
bureau placed Mr. N. F. Hanson upon the farm to conduct the 
experiment, and his entire time was devoted to the work. 
CATTLE USED. 
The steers were grades of the various beef breeds and ranged from 
one-half to three-quarters pure. They were from 24 to 34 years of 
age, but were fairly uniform in size. They were not quite so good 
in quality as the Alabama steers. The steers were such as may be 
found anywhere in the South where one or two crosses of pure-bred 
beef bulls have been made on the native eows. All of them were 
raised in the neighborhood of Abbott, Miss. All were tick free and 
had been so for more than a year. 
CHARACTER AND PRICE OF FEEDS. 
The cottonseed meal was bright, and analysis showed a erude pro- 
tein content of about 88 per cent. The hulls were of average quality. 
The corn silage was below the average in quality, as it contained very 
little grain and was somewhat dry when put into the silo. The 
cottonseed meal and hulls were contracted for in the early summer 
and purchased cheap. The cottonseed meal cost $23.50 per ton and 
the hulls $6.50 per ton. They are charged at actual cost in this 
test. Corn silage was charged at $3 per ton. 
METHODS OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE CATTLE. 
The steers which had horns were dehorned during the preliminary 
feeding period, and each was numbered by means of a tag on a 
leather neckstrap. The steers were divided into three similar lots 
and weighed individually on November 12 and 13, and an average 
of the two weights taken as the initial weight. The steers were 
