CALF FEEDING IN ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. 47 
Cottonseed meal proved a very satisfactory concentrated ration 
for the calves while on grass and also when being fed silage during 
the winter. There was a greater tendency for the cottonseed-meal- 
fed calves to grow instead of fattening than was the case with the 
calves fed on shelled corn supplemented with cottonseed meal. The 
cottonseed-meal-fed calves made satisfactory and economical gains 
when the kind and condition of pasture were considered, as the sum- 
mer of 1916 was a most unfavorable one in the prairie of Mississippi 
for fattening cattle on grass. 
The experiment indicates also that where corn can not be marketed 
readily it can be fed to calves very satisfactorily and at a good return. 
The corn-fed calves made better although more expensive gains than 
the calves fed on cottonseed meal alone. If the profits on the hogs 
and the increased selling price of the calves are taken into considera- 
tion, the corn-fed calves made almost as much profit as the others. 
If all the feeds except corn are charged at market prices and the 
profit is considered, the value of the corn fed to the calves gave a 
return of $1.57 per bushel for every bushel of corn consumed. It 
is seen, therefore, that the feeding of corn would have been exceed- 
ingly profitable to the man who could not have sold his corn in any 
other way and would have been much more profitable to market it 
in this way if a good market had been accessible. 
Should the farmer who can sell his corn readily and purchase 
cottonseed meal for feeding sell his corn or feed it ? To answer this 
question let us see at what price he would have to charge his corn to 
the calves in order to make as much profit as the cottonseed-meal-fed 
calves made. In this experiment, if the shelled corn had been charged 
at 77 cents per bushel, the calves of each lot would have made the 
same profit, namely, $10 per head. If corn could not have been sold 
for enough over 77 cents per bushel for preparing it for market and 
marketing, it would have been much more profitable to feed it to 
calves than to sell it. This test indicates clearly that with good 
calves corn can be fed at a profit even though it is worth a high price. 
The better the calves, the more expensive corn can be fed without 
danger of loss. With scrub or cheap cattle the southern farmer can 
not afford to use high-priced corn. 
In these experiments no charge has been made for labor, nor any 
credit given for the manure produced. The value of the manure 
will overbalance the cost of feeding, so that there is an indirect profit 
in calf-feeding which has not been included or discussed in the 
results. 
This experiment indicates that while cattle are high-priced and 
good pastures can be obtained for grazing purposes, the problem of 
what to do with short- aged or late calves may be solved very profit- 
ably by handling in the same manner tried out in this test. 
