Fattening Steers 89 
Oregon, where conditions for curing are for the most part 
quite unsatisfactory. Thus far, it has not proved possible 
to produce hay in western Oregon or any other humid 
district that is good enough to fatten steers without 
grain. The demand for such hay for dairy and other 
purposes, moreover, makes the price prohibitive to the 
steer-feeder. It is argued by some that steers could 
be fattened on vetch hay, kale, and barley. This could 
be done, without doubt, but the cost under present 
conditions would prohibit it. At present prices, the gain 
which would be put on by such feeding would cost about 
15 cents a pound, while 10 cents a pound is about the maxi- 
mum cost which the industry will bear. 
Of the grains which may be used as a supplement to the 
hay, either barley, wheat or oats will be satisfactory. 
These three grains have about the same feeding value, 
pound for pound, but a mixture of the three has proven 
superior to either one alone. When grain is used, ten 
pounds a day is probably the maximum, and five pounds 
a day the best. These grains may not have quite the 
same feeding value as corn, but they have never been 
thoroughly compared under similar conditions, and, at any 
rate, the difference is slight. Rye is used in a few locali- 
ties and has a feeding value somewhat similar to that of 
wheat, although hardly as good and not as palatable. 
Speltz has been tried rather extensively, and when 
obtainable at a very low price may be used at a profit. 
Screenings from the elevators and flour mills sometimes 
have considerable feeding value, but sheep seem to use 
these screenings to better advantage than steers, and for 
that reason they are nearly always used for fattening 
sheep or lambs rather than fattening cattle, in spite of 
the fact that they are quite satisfactory for the latter 
