150 THE MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF CATTLE 



what has been siloed for three or four months, when 

 thus obtainable, and from 6 to 8 pounds of grain daily 

 with all the alfalfa that they will consume, which will 

 be about 20 to 25 pounds dail_y. 



The cost of the pulp runs from 25 to 50 cents a ton, 

 thus furnishing a food that is exceedingly cheap. The 

 cost of the fodder varies much, but, fortunately, sugar 

 beet soils are also clover and alfalfa soils, hence the cost 

 of these ma}^ usually be kept reasonable. Grain in such 

 areas is usually costly. Climates exactly suited for beets 

 are a shade too cool for the abundant growth of corn. 

 They are usually suited eminently to the growth of 

 barley, but the high quality of the barley in the West 

 makes it too costly for such feeding, hence the tendency 

 at present to keep the feeding of grain down to a very 

 low limit. The healthfulness of such a ration is not to 

 be questioned. 



Duration of the feeding. — The duration of the feed- 

 ing period will be influenced by various considerations 

 such as relate to the condition of the animals when put 

 on feed, to the age of the same, to the character and 

 cost of the foods fed, and to the season when the feed- 

 ing begins. More commonly feeders err by bringing 

 the feeding to a close at too early a period. Beginners 

 are much prone to make this mistake because of the 

 large amounts of grain to make a fine finish in beef 

 cattle. 



The condition of the animals when put on feed has. 

 oi course, a most important bearing on the length of the 

 feeding period. If animals for ordinary fattening could 

 be put on feed in a similar condition to those that are to 

 be finished as baby beef, the finishing period would not 

 exceed 100 days, but this, in ordinary fattening, happens 

 but rarely. It is also apparent that animals in medium 

 condition will not call for so large a period of feeding 

 as animals that are low in flesh. The latter cannot be 

 made prime in less than 180 days, the former may in 



