82 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



will usually profit by one season of pasture. Autumn 

 calves will be grazed the following summer and sold 

 sometime the following spring, frequently before turn- 

 ing on grass. Spring calves will be grazed the second 

 summer and will usually be sold sometime in the 

 autumn. Grazing on grass unduly succulent is to be 

 avoided, as it will retard gains. The meal portion should 

 continue through the season of grazing, but unless 

 toward the finishing period a less amount may be fed. 



Soiling food has special adaptation for being fed to 

 calves to be marketed under one year. These can 

 usually be kept in highest comfort in the stables or 

 sheds, with a paddock attached in which to rest when 

 the nights are warm. These only call for enough 

 succulence to keep the digestion in tone. Clover, alfalfa, 

 and rape have highest adaptation for such feeding, but 

 various other soiling plants may be fed, including millet, 

 cowpeas, and corn. 



In the winter corn ensilage is undoubtedly the 

 cheapest source of succulence. It is also perfectly satis- 

 factory when judiciously fed. It alone may be made to 

 furnish the bulk food with which the meal is mixed. 

 The amount to be fed will var_y much with the age of 

 the animals and the character of the ensilage. Ensilage 

 with more than the usual amount of acidity would be 

 thus far detrimental to highest gains, and would have 

 to be fed with more caution than what is termed sweet 

 ensilage. To cattle in the yearling form, it would not 

 seem advantageous at any time to feed more than 20 

 pounds of ensilage daily. It should never be fed to the 

 extent of precluding the necessity for feeding more or 

 less of any fodder. 



Field roots may also be fed with much advantage 

 in winter in the sliced or pulped form. They also may 

 furnish the medium in which the meal is fed in the ad- 

 mixed form. Although more costly than corn ensilage 

 where the latter can be readily grown, they have pecu- 



