FEEDING GRADE BEEF COWS RAISING CALVES. 3 



from such breeding, as a rule, make undesirable stockers. When they 

 are poorly fed, as is often the case, they are even more undesirable. 

 When good purebred beef bulls are used on such cows, fairly good 

 stocker calves can be raised. The best calves, however, are produced 

 by the use of good beef cows, bred to good purebred beef bulls. 

 There is a ready market for the latter type of calves among those 

 who graze and feed stockers or older cattle. 



Since the tendency of many small farmers seems to be to keep only 

 a few cows that produce large quantities of milk, the cattle grazers 

 and feeders in this area may be forced to raise their own calves as 

 the business of feeding cattle grows and the demand for a better class 

 of cattle increases. The questions then arise, what does it. cost to keep 

 a cow of good beef type solely for the calf she may raise, and how 

 may she be fed most economically ? 



OBJECTS AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 



The experimental work reported in this bulletin was undertaken 

 with the following objects: 



1. To determine the most satisfactory and economical method of 

 wintering beef cows to raise calves. 



2. To find the cost of raising the calves. 



The work was carried on for a period of four years, in order to 

 have an average of feeds, cattle, seasons, and other conditions tend- 

 ing to produce variation. The general plan of the experiment is 

 given in Table 1. 



Table 1. — Plan of the four years' work. 



Lot 

 No. 



Season. 



1915-16 

 1916-17 

 1917-18 

 1918-19 



1916-17 

 1917-18 

 1918-19 



1915-16 

 1916-17 

 1917-18 

 1918-19 



1915-16 



Cows 

 in lot. 



Winter feed. 



Corn silage, mixed hay, and wheat straw Pasture. 



do. — Do. 



do I Do. 



.do. 



Corn silage, soy bean hay, and wheat straw. 



....do 



do 



Corn silage, cottonseed meal, and wheat straw. 



do 



do 



do 



Shock corn, mixed hay, and wheat straw. 



Summer 

 feed. ' 



Do. 



Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 

 Do. 



Do. 



1 Originally it was planned to feed shock corn, mixed hay, and wheat straw to Lot 4 throughout the 

 experiment, but because the ration was so much more expensive than the silage rations and because 

 it did not maintain the cows so well as the silage rations it was abandoned after the first year. 



DESCRIPTION OF COWS. 



The cows used were grades of the Shorthorn, Hereford, and Aber- 

 deen-Angus breeds. (See figs. 3, 4, and 5.) In the fall of the first 



