s 



314 FEEDS AND FEEDING, ABRIDGED 



will nearly always be produced than when the ration consists of corn 

 and legume hay. This is shown in the following table, which sum- 

 marizes the results secured in 4 trials in which 2-year-old 942-lb. 

 steers were fed for periods averaging 158 days: 



Legume hay vs. carbonaceous roughage plus protein-rich supplement 



Feed for 100 lbs. gain 

 Daily Concen- Roughage 



Average ration gain trates 



Lbs. Lbs. Lbs. 



Lot I 



Legume hay, 9.3 lbs. Corn, 17.9 lbs 2.3 77S 405 



Lot II 



Carbonaceous roughage 8.0 lbs. Corn, 16.4 lbs. 

 Supplement, 2.2 lbs 2.0 916 387 



Lot I, fed legume hay and corn, gained on the average 0.3 lb. more 

 per head daily and required 15.1 per ct. less concentrates and about 

 the same amount of roughage as Lot II, fed the equally well-balanced 

 but less palatable ration in which the roughage was prairie hay, 

 timothy hay, or corn stover with a small amount of oat straw. Only 

 when silage, appetizing as well as nutritious, is fed is it possible to 

 provide a ration which will equal one where the roughage is legume 

 hay. Even on farms where much Legume hay is raised, considerable 

 carbonaceous roughage, such as corn and sorghum stover, straw, and 

 hay from the grasses, is normally produced. Tho such roughage is 

 inferior to legume hay when fed alone, satisfactory and cheap gains 

 may be secured when it is fed with legume hay as part of the roughage. 



Legume hays compared. — Trials at the Indiana Station " show that 

 when fed in rations containing ample protein clover and alfalfa hay 

 have about equal value. However, since alfalfa hay is considerably 

 richer in protein than clover hay, it is more valuable for balancing 

 rations low in this nutrient. 



In a trial at the South Dakota Station 12 sweet clover hay was prac- 

 tically equal to alfalfa hay for fattening steers. Cowpea hay, of 

 much importance in the South, proved fully equal to clover hay in a 

 trial at the Missouri Station. 13 Cowpeas are often sown in corn at the 

 last cultivation and the vines and corn forage grazed after the ear 

 corn has been gathered. Such practice tends to soil improvement as 

 well as cheap meat production. 



Corn fodder; corn stover. — Tho there is more waste in feeding 

 corn fodder than corn silage, where the crop can not be ensiled corn 



11 Skinner and King, Ind. Bui. 178; information to the authors. 



12 Wilson, S. D. Bui. 160. 

 is Waters, Mo. Bui. 76. 



