126 SILAGE IN BEEP PRODUCTION. 



mixed hay. The steers fed on the ensilage made a. gain of 2.5 

 pounds a day, while the lot fed mixed hay gained about 1.9. The 

 sllage-fed steers when sold also brought about 15 cents per cwt. 

 more than the hay-fed steers, because of the fact that they were 

 better finished." 



The Kansas Experiment Station in May, 1913, concluded the 

 most important feeding demonstrations that have been made for 

 some years, in order to determine the comparative feeding value 

 of silage made from corn, kafir and cane or sweet sorghum. The 

 trials were made with both beef and dairy cattle and showed with 

 both that, pound for pound, the silage from all three crops had 

 practically the same feeding value. These demonstrations not 

 only benefit Kansas, but Indicate that feeders may make kafir and 

 cane silage the foundation feeds for fattening beef cattle through- 

 out the entire Southwest. 



The test with beef cattle was made with Hereford calves, ten 

 in each lot. Below' is the record: ' 



Corn Kafir Sorghum 



Silage. Silage. Silage. 



Ration — Lot 1 Lot 2 Lot 5 



Original value % 7.80 $ 7.80 $ 7.80 



Value of the lot 325.40 321.65 333.90 



Original weight 4,172 lbs. 4,124 lbs. 4,281 lbs. 



Peed Consumed: 



Corn silage 27,431 lbs, 



Kafir, silage .' 30,865 lbs 



, Sweet sorghum silage 30,855 lbs. 



Cottonseed meal , 927 lbs. 927 lbs. 927 lbs. 



Details : 



Pinal weight 5,700 lbs. 5,751 lbs. 5,865 lbs. 



Total gain 1,528 lbs. 1,627 lbs. 1,584 lbs. 



Average daily gain 1% lbs. 1.62 lbs. 1.58 lbs. 



Cost of feed .$55.05 $54.96 $54.94 



Dally cost by head 0.055 0.0549 0.0549 



Cost of gain 3.60 3.37 3.46 



Value, hundredweight . . . 7.50 7.60 7.50 



Pinal value by lot 427.50 437.07 439.87 



Profit by the lot 47.05 60.46 51.03 



It will be seen that kafir silage made 28 per cent, more profit 

 than corn silage, and sweet sorghum silage made 8 per cent, more 

 than corn silage. Corn silage has usually produced better gains 

 than either kafir or sorghum silage, due to the acidity and lack of 



