12 
BULLETIN 762, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
all} 7 increased until the last period, when each steer consumed prac- 
tically 61 pounds of meal a day. All the roughage was fed which 
the steers would clean up within one hour after feeding. The amount 
consumed by Lots 2 and 3 remained fairly constant for the entire 
experiment. The steers of Lot 1 did not consume quite as much cot- 
tonseed hulls the last two months as they did before that time. 
For the entire period of 143 days each steer of Lot 1 consumed on 
the average 21.12 pounds of cottonseed hulls daily; each steer in Lot 
2 ate 42.89 pounds of corn silage; and each steer of Lot 3 was fed 
an average of 11.68 pounds of cottonseed hulls and practically 28 
pounds of corn silage per day. 
WEIGHTS AND GAINS. 
The following table shows the initial weight, the final weight, the 
total gain, and the average daily gain per steer for all three lots : 
Table 5. — Weights and gains. (Nov. 13, 1914, to Apr. 5, 1915 — 143 
Lot 
No. 
Ration. 
Average 
initial 
weight 
per steer. 
Average 
final 
weight 
per steer. 
Average 
total 
gain 
per steer. 
Average 
daily 
gain 
per steer. 
1 
Pounds. 
814 
812 
814 
Pounds. 
1,012 
976 
1,054 
Pounds. 
198 
164 
240 
Pounds. 
1 38 
2 
1.15 
3 
Cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls, and corn silage 
1.67 
The average initial weight of the steers in each lot was very uni- 
form, being 814, 812, and 814 pounds, respectively, for the steers of 
Lots 1, 2, and 3. The steers did not gain as much as they should 
during the experiment. The fact that the pens were deep in mud 
during most of the time had considerable to do with the amount of 
gains made and emphasizes the importance of having dry and com- 
fortable beds for fattening steers. In the black-prairie section of 
Mississippi and Alabama, where the ground tramps into deep mud 
very easily, it is essential that the steers have either dry beds under 
shelter, or paved lots, or a combination of both. 
The fact that the silage was of poor quality this year was re- 
flected in the average daily gains made by the steers. The silage was 
practically of the same character as that which would be made by 
pulling all the ears from the corn and running the stalks alone into 
the silo. During the previous year the steers which were fed a ration 
of good silage and had comfortable beds made an average daily gain 
of 2.51 pounds per head per day for 84 days, while the steers in this 
test made less than 1J pounds per day for 143 days. 
