FATTENING STEERS ON VELVET BEANS 9 
During a preliminary period of two weeks the steers were allowed 
to rest, obtain a normal fill, and become accustomed to the feeds to 
be used in the experiment. During the first week all the steers were 
fed together, while during the second week after they had been 
divided into lots they were fed the same feeds as in the experiment. 
The average cost of the steers on March 15 was $11.84 per 100 
pounds, which includes the commission for purchasing, shipping 
charges, feed en route, and the value of the feed consumed during 
the preliminary period. A commission man from Baltimore ap- 
praised each lot as follows: Lots 2 and 3 were put at the same 
price, lot 1, 15 cents less, and lot 4, 20 cents less per hundredweight 
than lots 2 and 3. 
FEEDS USED 
The feeds used in this experiment were charged at their actual 
cost on the farm. Corn stover produced on the farm was used during 
the first 28-day period. It was replaced by wheat straw of good 
quality during the rest of the experiment. As about half the silage 
was made from good-quality, well-ripened corn, whereas the other 
half was made from immature corn, the quantity of corn per ton 
was estimated at 4 bushels. Allowing $1.35 a bushel for the corn 
in the field, 5 cents less than the farm price of corn for Maryland 
on December 1, 1917, $4 a ton for 280 pounds of corn stover in the 
field, equivalent in weight to the 4 bushels of ear corn, and $1.50 
a ton for putting up the silage, the cost per ton was practically $7.50. 
METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE CATTLE 
The feed yards were 41 feet wide and 132 feet long, with two 
open-front sheds 24 feet deep along the north side. The two 
sheds were separated by a 12-foot silo of 80 tons' capacity. The 
feed yards were not paved, but fairly good drainage prevented them 
from becoming very muddy even in long periods of rainy weather. 
The dry roughage was fed in racks inside the sheds. The silage 
and concentrates were fed in flat-bottomed bunks placed in the 
open feed lots. Each yard was provided with a steel trough which 
contained water at all times. The steers were given free access to 
rock salt. 
OBSERVATIONS DURING EXPERIMENT 
The cattle in lot 1, the cottonseed-meal lot, cleaned up their feed 
more readily than those in any of the other lots. The dry beans were 
fairly palatable. During the first and second periods considerable 
difficulty was experienced in getting the ground-bean lot to clean up 
the beans. The beans were tried both finely and coarsely ground, 
the coarsely ground beans being more palatable. As in the work 
at Collins, the ground beans became hot and molded very easily; 
consequently the beans were ground at frequent intervals. The 
soaked beans were very palatable. 
During the latter part of the first period there were very heavy 
rains followed by sleet and snow. During the second period one 
steer in the cottonseed-meal lot was off feed for a day. During the 
second and third periods one steer in the soaked-bean lot was 
slightly lame on account of having been pushed into a manger by 
another steer, but he kept on eating normally. 
33444— 25f 2 
