l66 THE ItANAGEJIENT AND FEEDIXG OF CATTLE 



Straw of the cereals ma)^ be used more or less, but ex- 

 cept when fed along with a goodly supply of field roots, 

 these should not form the sole roughage fed. AVith 

 corn, sorghum, or straw of the cereals, the aim should 

 be to feed leguminous hay once a day, when practicable, 

 to maintain equilibrium in nutrients in the roughage. 

 Ensilage will be found helpful up to the extent of, say, 

 30 pounds a day, or even more, for cattle that approx- 

 imate 1,000 pounds in live weight. The more corn in 

 the ensilage, the less the amount of the meal that is 

 called for, and the same is true of increase in the amount 

 of field roots fed. A\'ith, say, 25 to 30 pounds a day, a 

 small supplement of ensilage and good straw of certain 

 cereals, it may not be necessary to feed any grain. 



The aim should be, as a rule, to adjust the grain 

 fed to the roughage, rather than to adjust the roughage 

 to the grain, as it is much easier to dispose of surplus 

 grain than of surplus roughage. It should also be the 

 further aim to keep down the amount of grain to 

 minimum quantities, for the reason that grain is 

 more costly than roughage. But as corn is usually 

 cheaper relatively in man}^ areas than other concentrates, 

 when such is the case it should be the aim to grow 

 leguminous fodders to feed along with it, whether it is 

 fed as ensilage or otherwise. 



The amount of grain that should be fed will be in- 

 fluenced to a considerable degree by the season when 

 the animals are to be marketed. If marketed in the 

 early summer, it will usually be profitable to feed them 

 grain somewhat freely. If marketed in the late sum- 

 mer less grain is called for. If marketed still later, 

 under certain conditions it may not be necessary to feed 

 grain at all. "W^ith these facts in mind, the amount of 

 grain to be fed can be regulated best by the increase in 

 the animals and by their condition of flesh. 



Cattle that are to l>c snhl on grass in the early 

 summer should carr\- considerable fat when thev leave 



