FEEDING OF BEEF COWS IN THE CORN BELT. 13 
cheapened greatly by leaving out the timothy hay, which, because of 
a scarcity of hay in that particular year, was valued at $12 a ton. 
In addition, 1 ton of silage could have been saved by properly 
feeding the oat straw instead of allowing the cattle to trample the 
greater part under foot. Estimating that the stalk fields contained 
three-fourths of a ton of edible stover per acre, with these changes 
the daily ration for the cows would have been as follows : 
Stover 16 pounds. 
Silage ^ 30 pounds. 
Oat straw 9 pounds. 
This ration contains sufficient dry matter and digestible nutrients 
to carry the cows through the winter, but the total amount of pro- 
tein is below the percentage called for by feeding standards. It 
would, of course, be much better if there were some clover or alfalfa 
on this farm, so that a moderate amount could replace some of the 
silage. However, this is the best ration that can be devised from the 
feeds available. If this farmer would feed from one-half to 1 
pound daily of either linseed meal or cottonseed meal, the ration 
would be greatly improved. Assuming that he purchased 100 pounds 
of cottonseed meal per cow, costing $2.25, the ration would be ade- 
quate and there would still be a saving of $13.75 on the winter feed 
bill, which would have been reduced from $28.75 to $15. Such a sav- 
ing in the cost of wintering the cows would mean that the calves, 
which actually cost $51.50 per head at weaning time, would have 
been produced for $38, or for only $1 more than the average for all 
calves. 
FARM NO. 3. 
The third farm is in a region in southwestern Iowa that for years 
has had d reputation for prime beef. Many prize-winning car- 
load lots of fat cattle have come from this locality. Because of this 
reputation there is a certain rivalry among farmers here in the 
matter of the appearance of their herds, with the result that many 
of the farmers are inclined to feed more heavily than is necessary. 
This particular farmer was not feeding nearly as heavily as were some 
of his neighbors, but it would have been possible for him to feed less 
and still maintain his herd in good condition and thus effect a saving 
on the cost of wintering his cows. 
This farm comprises 200 acres, of which 50 were in pasture, 80 in 
corn, 20 in oats, and 30 in timothy and clover. The herd consisted of 
22 high-grade cows and a pure-bred bull. The calf crop was kept 
down by contagious abortion and only 14 calves were saved. The 
cows were turned on stalks the middle of November. Winter feeding 
began the middle of January and lasted until they were turned on 
