6 BULLETIN 615, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
AVOID COSTLY RATIONS. 
Not only were some of the farmers giving their cows too much 
feed, but many of the feeds used were altogether too high priced. 
The farms were again divided into four groups, the grouping based 
on the average daily feed cost per cow. The average daily feed cost 
per cow in each of these groups was as follows : 5.8 cents on 98 farms, 
8.4 cents on 162 farms, 10.3 cents on 131 farms, and 13.7 cents on 87 
farms. The average winter feed cost for the cows in the first group 
was $10. In spite of the fact that the cows in the fourth group 
were carried for a 10-day shorter winter feeding period, and were 
given nearly one-fifth less feed than those of the first group, they 
cost $12 a head more to winter, or $22. This great difference in the 
cost of wintering the cows in these two groups was due largely to 
the kinds of feed used. The farmers in the first group were carrying 
their cows through the winter on a ration 62 per cent of which was 
made up of cheap roughages, such as stalks, stover (cut corn from 
which the ears have been removed) , oat and wheat straw, and some 
winter pasture. The remainder of the ration consisted of 30 per 
cent hay, 4 per cent fodder (cut corn containing the ears), and 2 
per cent each of silage and grain. The cows in the fourth group, 
which were fed at a cost of 13.7 cents a head per day, were, on the 
other hand, receiving a ration that contained only 24 per cent cheap 
roughage as against 40 per cent hay, 12 per cent fodder, 14 per cent 
silage, and 10 per cent grain. 
USE MORE CHEAP ROUGHAGE. 
The figures cited above indicate that there is an opportunity for 
many of the corn-belt farmers to reduce considerably their winter 
feed bill by the greater utilization of the farm by-products, such as 
straw and corn stover. A study, therefore, was made to determine 
the effect of feeding varying proportions of these cheap roughages, 
the farms again being divided into groups. There were 14 farms 
(see Table II) on which no cheap roughages were fed. The average 
ration on these farms was composed of 54 per cent hay, 25 per cent 
fodder, 10 per cent silage, and 11 per cent grain. The daily cost 
of this ration was 11 cents. In the second group, 229 farms, the 
average quantity of cheap roughages fed was 24 per cent, these feeds 
replacing fodder and silage to a limited extent. Although the figures 
show a smaller percentage of hay and grain, as a matter of fact the 
farms in this group fed on the average one-tenth of a ton more hay 
and a little more grain than those of the first group, feeding al- 
together 2,250 feed units as against 1,950 for those in the first group. 
Because of the larger amount of feed given, this ration cost approxi- 
