THE SELF-FEEDER 157 



Before leaving this subject I wish to call attention 

 to the possibility of using the self-feeder to advantage 

 from the start. This may be accomplished by chaffing 

 or cutting the roughage and mingling it with the con- 

 centrate fed before delivering the feed to the self-feeder. 

 By mixing a large proportion of roughage with the con- 

 centrates fed at the beginning, the cattle may be safely 

 turned to the feeder as soon as they are received from 

 the market or as soon as they are placed in the feed lot. 

 As the feeding progresses, the proportion of roughage 

 should be reduced as the concentrates are increased. 

 By actual trial this has proved a very good system for 

 short fed cattle, and, as far as the writer's knowledge ex- 

 tends, the very safest method of getting cattle on feed 

 quickly. This has been fully explained in a preceding 

 chapter. 



