WINTER RATIONS OF YEARLING STEERS. 



15 



Per ton. 



Corn silage $6 



Mixed hay 18 



Rye hay 18 



Soy-bean hay 17 



Wheat straw 7 



Cottonseed meal 50 



The foregoing averages were made from figures taken from the 

 Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture, and are 

 the average farm prices in the States* of West Virginia, Virginia, 

 Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Caro- 

 lina, and parts of other adjacent States, to which this work is most 

 applicable. 



An attempt is made to show the comparative cost of the different 

 rations for the benefit of those who desire information on this phase 

 of the subject. If the prices of feeds in any locality are different 

 from the prices used in these calculations, it is suggested that they 

 be substituted and the following calculations used as a guide, using, 

 as the basis of calculation, the total amounts of the different feeds 

 consumed per steer as shown in the first section of Table 4. 



Table 8 shows the rations fed, the gain or loss in weight per steer 

 during the winter, the fall cost per hundredweight, the cost of feed- 

 ing each steer through the winter, and the advance in spring value 

 over fall cost of steers per hundredweight. 



Table 8. — Summary of rations, costs, and results. 



Lot 

 No. 



Ration. 



Year. 



Gain(+) 



or 

 loss ( — ) 



in 



weight 



per 



steer. 



Initial 

 value 

 per 

 hun- 

 dred- 

 weight. 



Cost to 

 winter 

 each 

 steer. 



Value in 

 spring 

 per 

 hun- 

 dred- 

 weight. 



Ad- 

 vance in 

 spring 

 vaiue 

 over 

 initial 

 value 

 per 

 hun- 

 dred- 

 weight. 



1 



Corn silage, mixed hay, and wheat 

 straw. 



1914-15 

 19i5-16 

 1916-17 



Pounds. 



-23 



00 



+ 19 



$6.50 

 6.50 

 7.00 



$13. 71 

 13.74 

 16.03 



$9.04 

 8.52 

 9.07 



$2.54 

 2.02 

 2.07 





- 1 



6.67 



14.49 



8.88 



2.2 





Corn silage, wheat straw, and cotton- 

 seed meal. 



1914-15 

 1915-16 

 1916-17 

 1917-18 





2 



+ 74 

 +80 

 +52 

 +40 



6.50 

 6.50 

 7.00 

 7.50 



14.47 

 14.34 

 14.60 

 13.88 



7.89 

 7.70 

 8.48 

 9.03 



1.39 

 1.20 

 1.48 

 1.53 







+ 62 



6.88 



14.32 



8.28 



1.40 







1914-15 

 1915-16 

 1916-17 

 1917-18 





3 



-46 

 - 7 

 -30 

 -56 



6.50 

 6.50 

 7.00 

 7.50 



13.62 

 15.03 

 16.74 

 17.30 



9.38 



8.81 



9.72 



11.00 



2.88 







2.31 

 2.72 

 3.50 







-35 



6.88 



15.67 



9.73 



2.85 







1917-18 

 1917-18 





4 



+ 27 



7.50 



14.76 



9.32 



1.82 





Corn silage, rye hay, and cottonseed 

 meal. 





5 



+ 11 



7.50 



16.82 



9.84 



2.34 



Note. — The length of the feeding period varied somewhat from year to year, depending on the condition 

 of the pastures in the early spring. The steers were fed 128 days during the winter of 1914-15, 122 days in 

 1915-16, 134 days in 1916-17, and 133 days in 1917-18. 



