4 BULLETIN 1318, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
An outline of the plan of the experiments showing the kind of 
silage fed to each lot of steers and the number of steers in each lot 
is presented in Table 1. 
Table 1. — Silage feeding plan used in the experiments 1 
Lot 
Kind of silage fed 
Number of steers 
in lots 
No. 
1915-16 
1916-17 
1917-18 
1918-19 
Total 
1 
15 
15 
15 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
8 
8 
8 
8 
43 
? 
Corn and soybeans 
43 
3 
Sorgo 2 . 
43 
4 
Sorgo and soybeans ___ _ 
18 
R 
Corn and sorgo. ._ . __ ._ 
15 
15 
15 
15 
6 
Corn, sorgo, soybeans, and cowpeas 
15 
7 
Sugar-cane tops ______ 
10 
10 
10 
__________ 
8 
8 
8 
33 
8 
Sugar cane (whole) _____ 
18 
q 
16" 
10 
28 
in 
Corn, sorgo, and soybeans . . 
10 
1 During the first two winters the steers were fed 100 days, and during each of the last two 90 days. The 
work was begun each year on the following dates: Dec. 8, 1915, Dec. 19, 1916, Dec. 15, 1917, and Nov. 26, 
1918. 
2 Sorgo is the preferred name for the group of sweet-juiced sorghum varieties grown for sirup and forage. 
The group is known also as sorghum, saccharine sorghum, sirup sorghum, and sweet sorghum. 
METHOD OF FEEDING 
Cottonseed meal was fed at the rate of 2 pounds per head daily 
at the start, increasing gradually to 8 pounds during the first 50 
days, and maintained at that quantity until the end of the feeding 
period. A full feed of silage of the various kinds was fed through- 
out all the tests. Whenever any silage was left in the troughs it was 
weighed back. Rock salt and water were kept before the steers at 
all times. The silage and cottonseed meal were fed twice daily, 
morning and evening, the silage being placed in the feed bunks and 
cottonseed meal sprinkled over and mixed with it. During the second 
and fourth winters a small quantity of molasses was diluted with 
water and sprinkled on the silage to induce the steers to consume 
more of it. No hogs were used to follow the steers in the feed lots. 
FEEDS USED 
Com silage. — The corn silage was finely cut and uniform in quality, 
and kept well throughout the four tests. The small proportion of 
grain in the silage was not determined. However, yields on other 
plats indicate 4 bushels of grain to a ton of corn silage is a liberal 
estimate. 
Com and soybean silage.— -The corn used in this silage was of 
practically the same quality as that used for the corn-silage lot. As 
the soybeans were cut in the blossom stage, they had only a small 
number of pods on them. The corn and soy beans were not weighed 
separately for the first two tests, but there probably was about one- 
third as much soy beans as corn by weight. In the third test 62 per 
cent of this silage was corn and 38 per cent was soybeans. In the 
fourth test 66 per cent was corn and 34 per cent soybeans. 
Sorgo silage. — The sorgo silage was # of good quality, but did not 
contain much grain owing to the fact that sorgo does not seed well 
in this locality. The sorgo was cut when it was fully mature and the 
lower leaves were becoming dry. 
Sorgo and soybean silage. — The sorgo and soybeans used were 
practically the same quality as described above. The silage fed 
