FATTENING STEERS ON VELVET BEANS 
11 
they are worthy of consideration, the pork credit being 8.3 and 10.9 
pounds per steer, respectively. 
SALE AND SLAUGHTER OF CATTLE 
The cattle were sold competitively on the basis of farm weights, 
and shipped by rail from the Beltsville farm to Baltimore, a distance 
of about 27 miles. They were in the Baltimore yards two days 
before being slaughtered, during which time they were given only 
mixed hay. On the day they were slaughtered each lot was 
weighed to determine the shrinkage from farm weight and the 
dressing percentage. Kecords were made of the various parts ob- 
tained in slaughtering, as shown in Table 9. 
The cottonseed-meal lot showed the most finish at the end of the 
experiment and brought the highest price. The cattle in this lot at 
the beginning of the experiment were valued at 15 cents a hundred- 
weight less than the cattle in the whole-bean and ground-bean lots. 
The soaked-bean lot showed the next best finish so far as covering 
Fig. 
-Steers fed on whole dry velvet beans at the end of the experiment at Beltsville, 1918. They 
gained 194 pounds per head in 112 days 
of fat was concerned. At the beginning of the experiment the cattle 
in this lot were valued at 20 cents less than the cattle in either of 
the other bean lots and 5 cents less than the cattle of the cottonseed- 
meal lot. 
The soaked-bean lot dressed out the highest percentage, while the 
whole-bean lot was second, cottonseed-meal lot third, and ground- 
bean lot fourth. The amount of internal fat was largest in the 
soaked-bean lot, which had the highest dressing percentage, and least 
in the ground-bean lot, which had the lowest dressing percentage. The 
carcasses of the soaked-bean lot and cottonseed-meal lot were of 
nearly the same quality, the soaked-bean lot being slightly better. 
The Whole-bean lot was considerably better than the ground-bean 
lot on account of the greater covering of fat. 
SUMMARY OF 1918 EXPERIMENT 
The cottonseed-meal lot produced the largest and cheapest gain 
and the greatest profit. 
Of the three forms of beans, the soaked beans were the most palat- 
able, while whole beans were more palatable than ground beans. 
The soaked beans also produced more economical gains than the 
whole or ground beans. Whereas more soaked beans were required 
per 100 pounds of gain, considerably less silage was consumed; con- 
