204 THE BOOK OF CORN 



the same time the combination of corn with such food- 

 stuffs as will increase the proportion of protein in a 

 ration will result in a more rapid gain, as is clearly 

 shown in the foregoing table of experiments recorded 

 by Professor Waters of Missouri agricultural college. 



EFFICIENCY OF MIXED RATIONS 



These results are worthy of the most careful con- 

 sideration. Taken in connection with those reported 

 for yearlings, they indicate that the combination of 

 clover or cowpeas with corn exerts a profound influ- 

 ence upon the efficiency of the ration as compared with 

 corn and timothy hay. It will be noted that with the 

 unbalanced ration of corn and timothy, each bushel 

 of corn produced in one trial 4.87 pounds of gain, and 

 five pounds in the other, or an average of 4.93 pounds 

 for the two trials. When, however, the clover or cow- 

 pea hay was substituted for the timothy, each bushel ■ 

 of corn produced from 6.44 to 6.74 pounds of gain, or 

 an average of 6.58 pounds, an increase of 1.65 pounds 

 of beef from each bushel of corn fed. With steers 

 selling at five cents a pound, this means that the feeder 

 is getting eight and one-fourth cents a bushel more 

 for his corn by balancing his ration with some such 

 cheap material as clover or cowpeas. With corn at 

 twenty-five or thirty cents a bushel, this is equivalent 

 to an increase of twenty-five to thirty-three per cent in 

 the returns from his feeding operations. 



Not only is this true, but the steers will command 

 a higher price on the market by reason of having 

 gotten fatter, of finishing up smoother, and carrying 

 more bloom. In the case of young cattle, the advan- 

 tage is not all expressed in increased gain in weight, 

 since the animal when wintered on a balanced ration 

 is in condition to make better growth on grass or to 



