140 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



the northern states and Ontario, Canada, the chief con- 

 centrates fed will be oats, oilcake, and corn fed on the 

 stalk or in the silo. In the corn belt it is probable that 

 corn will continue to be the central fattening food, tem- 

 pered by a complement of some food rich in protein, as 

 wheat bran, oilcake, gluten feed, or cottonseed meal. In 

 the southern states, cottonseed meal tempered with some 

 coarse substance will continue to be the leading fatten- 

 ing food for cattle, and in the western mountain states 

 barle}' or succotash will hold a similar place. 



The preparation which feeding these concentrates 

 calls for varies with the conditions under which the 

 feeding is done. But it will be correct to say, first, that 

 all kinds of grain used for such feeding, except corn, 

 should be ground before it is fed; second, when thus 

 ground, it is beneficial to mix it with some coarse fodder 

 cut up or with ensilage; and, third, that it is usually 

 more satisfactory to feed oil meal in the nut form than 

 as meal. Corn may be fed in the ear, shelled, or in the 

 bundle. When fed unground on the cob, shelled, or in 

 the bundle, enough swine should follow to consume all 

 the undigested kernels in the droppings, ^^^hen fed 

 ground, it should be fed similarly to other ground grain. 

 Which of these methods should be followed in feeding 

 corn will be largely determined by the circumstances 

 under which the feeding is done. When much of the 

 corn is fed in the bundle other cattle not being fattened 

 should glean in the yards or feed lots after the former, 

 in order to utilize a part, at least, of what may be re- 

 jected by the cattle that are being fattened. Feeding 

 meal on cut feed insures its more thorough mastication, 

 since it is rechewed, and consequently its more thorough 

 digestion and assimilation and its more porous condi- 

 tion while in the stomach render it less liable to disturb 

 digestion than when fed directly in large quantities. 

 For this reason corn and cob ground is a safer food than 

 ground corn for direct feeding, and the same is true of 



