COMPARISON OF ROUGHAGES FOR, FATTENING STEERS. 
21 
fed a dry-roughage ration of cowpea hay, oat straw, and corn stover, 
gained only 1.59 pounds per head per day. 
The use of a small amount of dry roughage fed with good sor- 
ghum silage failed to cause the steers to make larger daily gains; in 
fact, it had just the opposite effect. The steers receiving silage alone 
consumed a larger amount daily and made larger daily gains. A 
roughage ration composed of one-third cowpea hay, one-third oat 
straw, and one-third corn stover did not prove satisfactory for fat- 
tening steers when cottonseed cake was the sole concentrate fed. 
QUANTITY AND COST OF FEED REQUIRED TO MAKE 
100 POUNDS OF GAIN. 
The following table shows the amount and cost of feeds required 
to make 100 pounds of gain : 
Table 10. — Quantity and cost of feed required to make 100 pounds of 
(November 26, 1915, to April 1, 1916—127 .days.) 
gain. 
Lot 
No. 
Ration. 
Pounds of 
feed to 
make 100 
pounds of 
gain. 
Cost 
of 100 
pounds of 
gain. 
284 
1,978 
312 
1,976 
125 
322 
2,041 
103 
383 
504 
504 
504 
\ $7. 52 
1 
\Sorghum silage 
j 
2 
-J Sorghum silage 
I 8.26 
[Cottonseed meal 
| 
3 
■! Sorghum silage 
I 8.47 
(Oat straw 
[Cottonseed meal 
1 
4 
1 0at straw 
\ 11.16 
[Corn stover 
J 
Lot 1, which was fed on a ration of cottonseed meal and sorghum 
silage, required 284 pounds of cottonseed meal and 1,978 pounds of 
silage to make 100 pounds of gain. Each 100 pounds of gain was 
made at a cost of $7.52. The cost of producing the gains on this lot 
was lower than for any of the other lots. 
Lot 4 received 383 pounds of cottonseed meal and 504 pounds each 
of oat straw, corn stover, and cowpea hay per 100 pounds gain. The 
gains in this lot were made at a cost of $11.16. The steers in this lot 
not only made the smallest gains of all the lots, but the gains were 
the most expensive. The small gains, which are accounted for by the 
lack of succulence and palatability in the roughage ration, are 
responsible for the high cost of gains. 
The rate of gains as well as the cost of gains in this experiment 
seems to indicate that the addition of such roughages as corn stover 
or oat straw do not add to the value of a silage ration when the 
silage is made of well-matured sorghum. The outcome of Lot 4 in 
this experiment emphasizes the value of silage in the fattening ration 
