The farmer and mechanic., 1909-09-14

should Be Fed With COttOnSecd Meal
and Plenty of StOXer Or Sweet Hay.

Farmers who use silage for carrying
cattle through the winter sometimes
make the mistake Of turning them on
grass before it has attained any size
ana when 1T is very succulent, as will
De the case in the early spring.
For grain feed corn and cottonseed
meal according to the prices mention
cd IN your letter. COttonSeed meal
contains considerably more protein
than old process Oilmeal and is cheap
er than the latter. and is as satisfac-
tory concentrate for feeding with
corn to beef cattle as can be found.
For cattle to be carried over, the
ration should consist of two parts of
cOttonSeed meal and one part of corn.
1t is not necessary to feed more than
one pound a day to commence with.
This may be increased to one and
one-half pounds and up gradually TO
four pounds.
The cattle should be weighed at
least once in thirty days. If they are
not gaining satisfactorily increase the
amounts of the grain. Cattle of the
size mentioned will not eat more than
thirty pounds of silage, ten pounds
of hay and perhaps ten pounds of
corn fodder per day.
The hay may be fed in the managers
and the corn fodder might be fed in
racks out in the yards, and the cattle
allowed to pick at it ad Hbitum. The
Silage should be fed in two equal
feeds morning and evening, and the
hay along in the evening, say 5 or 8
o'clock.
One can estimate the feed ,eded
pretty closely by weighing it two or
three times. AS matter of economy
| in feeding it Will pay you to do this,
! because most farmers who have at
tempted to utilize silage for feeding
beef cattle made the mistake of feed
! ing about twice as much as Is really
advisa bic or necessary to obtain a
given result
| While it is true that there is a con-
siderable amount Of corn in Stage, il
! is still necessary to feed some grain
! along with it. for we must remenl ber
that the grain in the silage is not con-
centrated, as in the case Of the mature
corn.
If it is intended to fatten cattle. sa,
in the next five months, use the same
amount of slage, and commence with
a small amount of gain, which should
be increased gradually, say one half
pound each ten days, until you are
feeding from twelve to fourteen
pounds per day.
Give the animals the same amount
of clover hay and whatever roughness
in the form Of stoVer or corn fodder
they will consume. In the beginning
it is better to feed larger proper
ton of cottOnseed meal, say perhaps
at the rate of tWo-thirds cottonseeC
meal and one-third corn or corn anC
cob meal.
AS the season advances these pro
portions should be reversed. keeI
the animals growing for the first three
months Of the feeding period, and dur
ing the last two or three months finish
them. If we attempt to feed corn
straight from the beginning they will
not grow as well nor will they gain
as rapidly as if you fed a larger
amount Of a concentrate rich in pro
tein and smaller amount of corn.
Where corn is cheap it will proba-
bly, not pay to grind it with the cobs
but if it is more than so cents 6
bushel it will pay to grind it.
Mill feed would form a very 5000
concentrate, though not as cheap a:
cOttonseed meal OF course old pro
cess oi!meal is a very fine foodstuf
for beef cattle, but it is not more sat
isfactory than cottonseed meal Wher
judiciously fed, and as it is dearer We
, cannot afford to use it,
An Excellent PrecautiOn.