FEEDING GRADE BEEF COWS RAISING CALVES. 15 



3. Unless cows which do not settle within 3 or 4 months after 

 calving are replaced by bred cows or heifers, the breeder loses for 

 the following reasons : 



A smaller calf crop each year. 



A lack of uniformity in the ages of the calves. 



A greater labor, feed, and equipment cost if the calves are dropped in 



the fall or winter. 

 Greater inconvenience and cost in handling when all the calves do not 



come in one season. 



It seems advisable for farmers raising grade beef calves to use as 

 many 2-year-old heifers as they can produce or purchase at a reason- 

 able cost. Heifers raise good calves and at the same time make a 

 considerable gain in weight if they are fed properly. When the 

 calves are weaned the heifers can be fattened, sold, and replaced by 

 more 2-year-olds. This gain in weight by growth can not be obtained 

 in the case of aged cows. 



II. COSTS OF THE RATIONS AND OF RAISING CALVES TO WEAN- 

 ING AGE. 



The following comparisons are made to see which is the cheapest 

 of the various rations used in the experiment, and especially to see 

 with which one the calves were produced most cheaply. 



PRICES USED. 



For the purpose mentioned it is necessary to fix the prices for feeds 

 on the farm. This is the most questionable and unsatisfactory part 

 of such experimental work, especially for the last few. years, during 

 which unusual fluctuations have occurred in feed prices. On account 

 of these fluctuations and also for simplicity in making the various 

 calculations, an average of the feed prices for the three years is used, 

 as follows : 



Corn silage per ton $6.00 



Mixed hay do 18. 00 



Soy-bean hay do 17.00 



Cottonseed meal do 50. 00 



Wheat straw do 7.00 



Corn stover do 7.00 



Shock corn do 17.00 



Ear corn '. per bushel — .96 



Pasture 1 per day— .06 



The foregoing figures are based on the average farm prices of corn 

 and hay from 1910 to 1919, as given in the Yearbook of the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, for the States of West Virginia, 

 Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and 

 North Carolina. 



