24 BULLETIN 762, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
steers of Lot 4 were not so fat as the silage-fed steers, as shown by 
the dressing percentages; the steers of Lot 4 dressing out almost 2 
per cent less than the steers of the other lots. 
SUMMARY OF THE EXPERIMENT. 
1. The objects of this experiment were: (a) to determine whether 
it is more profitable to feed silage as the sole roughage ration or to 
supplement it with a small amount of dry roughage, such as corn 
stover or oat straw, and (0) to determine the value of a combination 
of such common southern roughage as cowpea hay, oat straw, and corn 
stover for fattening steers. 
2. The steers used in this experiment were grade native steers, 
ranging from one-half to seven-eighths pure-bred Shorthorn, Aber- 
deen-Angus, Hereford, Red Poll, and Devon. They were above the 
average of steers found in that section and ranged in age from 2 
to 4 years. 
3. The steers were divided into 4 lots of 20 each and fed for a 
period of 127 days. Lot 1 was fed cottonseed meal and sorghum 
silage; Lot 2 received cottonseed meal, sorghum silage, and corn 
stover ; Lot 3 received cottonseed meal, sorghum silage, and oat straw ; 
Lot 4 was fed cottonseed cake, cowpea hay, oat straw, and corn stover. 
4, Lot 2 started with a daily average consumption of 3.7 pounds of 
stover per head, decreasing to 0.6 pound in the last period. Lot 
3 commenced with a daily average consumption of 3.5 pounds of oat 
straw per head, decreasing to 0.8 pound in the last period. These 
rations indicate that while steers being fed silage will eat a little dry 
roughage if placed before them, the amount is small if the silage is 
palatable, and becomes an almost negligible factor during the latter 
part of the feeding period. The steers which ate some roughage 
did not eat so much silage. 
5. The average daily gains per head for the period of 127 days 
were 2.14, 1.95, 1.89, and 1.59 pounds, for Lots 1, 2, 3, and 4, respec- 
tively. The use of a small amount of dry roughage fed with good 
sorghum silage failed to cause the steers to make larger gains; in fact, | 
it had just the opposite effect. The steers receiving silage alone con- 
sumed a larger amount daily and made larger daily gains. 
6. A roughage ration consisting of one-third cowpea hay, one-third 
oat straw, and one-third corn stover did not prove so satisfactory for 
fattening steers when cottonseed cake was the sole concentrate fed. 
7. The total cost of 100 pounds gain was $7.52, $8.26, $8.47, and 
$11.16 for lots 1, 2,3, and 4, respectively. The rate of gains, as well 
as the cost of gains in the experiment, seems to indicate that the addi- 
tion of such roughages as oat straw and corn stover do not add to 
the value of a silage ration. 
