FEEDING GRADE BEEF COWS RAISING CALVES. 3 
from such breeding, as a rule, make undesirable stockers. When they 
are poorly fed, as is often the case, they are even more undesirable. 
When good purebred beef bulls are used on such cows, fairly good 
stocker calves can be raised. The best calves, however, are produced 
by the use of good beef cows, bred to good purebred beef bulls. 
There is a ready market for the latter type of calves among those 
who graze and feed stockers or older cattle. 
Since the tendency of many small farmers seems to be to keep only 
a few cows that produce large quantities of milk, the cattle grazers 
and feeders in this area may be forced to raise their own calves as 
the business of feeding cattle grows and the demand for a better class 
of cattle increases. The questions then arise, what does it cost to keep 
a cow of good beef type solely for the calf she may raise, and how 
may she be fed most economically ? 
OBJECTS AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 
The experimental work reported in this bulletin was undertaken 
with the following objects: 
1. To determine the most satisfactory and economical method of 
wintering beef cows to raise calves. 
2. To find the cost of raising the calves. 
The work was carried on for a period of four years, in order to 
have an average of feeds, cattle, seasons, and other conditions tend- 
ing to produce variation. The general plan of the experiment is 
given in Table 1. 
TABLE 1.—Plan of the four years’ work. 
Lot ,. |Cows - Summer 
No Season. alot Winter feed. ced 
1 | 1915-16 TOHConm silage mixed hay, andswiteal SAW: «5-2 Act ee eens eine See oS Pasture. 
1916-17 EOE et, CIO CasR et CREB Is Be RG EOE SP RS USES NEE eee eae ci CIeneg eee Wi | IDXoy, 
1917-18 LO Wee se DLS GEC SEARS BE GMOS Eee ee OE te pe AS 2 ae Pepe ees em ca oh e208 
1918-19 pee Osea cen ee hae Se ie oy HAL viclo.s See wieireajsewials aew eel ees Do. 
2| 1916-17 107); Cornisilageysoy bean hay, and witeat:siraw-.- 2.222220. ses. 2.2.2 Do. 
1917-18 102 | Soe LOM ee ica aparece ciel ie UL Be iwlad gaicinibinitie, Sree ibibo sere Do. 
1918-19 1a eee COE Se tE Go COL AB AS DAH OSG BEACONS = ete tere Mes Aste Se eta aren A Do. 
3 1915-16 10 | Corn silage, cottonseed ‘meal, and wheat straw-.---....-.-.--.-...... Do. 
1916-17 Ou Soc oe BIC HAGE AAO OC OES OS BE ARCO EUS e ERIC on ars are ese Soe Do. 
1917-18 TON Gate's LD Seat eae eee Smet eels nied Maja e scales oe uy ie nein sche eeaaes Do. 
1918-19 BO tee re C1 amen tete erratic aioe te ars a(eicisoeiawinr tase = ache so 'de cicrernote cha, tha ea Do. 
14 1915-16 Isp shock corm) mixed hay, and wheat straw---.-- 2-22. s52s-25s2-2 see Do. 
| Originally it was p'anned to feed shock corn, mixed hay, and wheat straw to Lot 4 throughout the 
experiment, but because the ration was so much more expensive than the silage rations and because 
it did not maintain the cows so well as the silage rations it was abandoned after the first year. 
DESCRIPTION OF COWS. 
The cows used were grades of the Shorthorn, Hereford, and Aber- 
deen-Angus breeds. (See figs. 3, 4, and 5.) In the fall of the first 
