The Green Forest tribune., 1915-01-08

Because of the abundant supply Of cottorseed meal that there Is likely to be in this country this year, special ists in the United States agricultural
 department believe that the farmer
 has a better opportunity to make money by feeding beef cattle than for
 some years past. The feeding value of cottonseed meal has been recog- nized by agricultural authorities for
 some time and large quantities of 1t are exported annually to Europe where the farmers, especially those in Den mark, are also aware of it's usefulness. It now seems likely that the price of cottonseed meal will continue to be considerably lower than in recent years and the American farmer should there fore utilize it to advantage to make cheap gains.
 Two causes combine to lower the price of cottonseed by-products. In the first place the cotton crop In the South this year Is good, and in the next the foreign markets have been seriously interfered with by the Euro pean war. It Is estimated that this year 15,000,000 bales of cotton will be produced in the United States. This should yield 6680,000 tons of seed. All of this, of course, will not be crushed, but if last years proportions hold good again about two million tons of cottonseed meal will be avail able. Last year approximately 100000 tons were sent abroad. Under present conditions it is not probable that any thing like this quantity will be export ed this year, and, as the cotton crop is larger than before, it is safe to as- sume that the quantity of cottonseed meal on the home market will be 500,- 000 tons more than last year. This situation has already resulted in a 4sd0stahtlal arOp Hi the price Of cotton seed by-products. Cottonseed meal can now be bought in the South at prices ranging from S22 to $24 per ton instead of $27 to s31 demanded last year. An even greater decrease has taken place in the price of eottonseed hulls, which are now selling at from $4.50 to $5.50 ton instead of $7 to $9 ton.
 At these prices cottonseed meal is approximately s15 per ton cheaper than linseed meal, and in addition its feeding value is a tri1e higher. It seems obvious, therefore, that the cat tie feeder all over the country should utilize cottonseed meal to a far great or extent than he has done in the past.
 This meal Is very rich in protein, and it Is usually considered that its feeding value Is at least twice that of corn. In other words, one pound of cottonseed meal Is equal to two pounds of corn for feeding cattle. A small portion of cottonseed meal has an even greater relative value where the ra- tion would otherwise be composed en- tirely of feeds high in carbohydrates, such as corn, corn stover and timothy hay. This Is extremely important to cattle feeders throughout the corn corn Is fed. In Indiana, for example, it was found that the addition of one pound of cottonseed meal to a ration of corn and clover hay resulted in a saving of 1.37 pounds of corn and 1.41 pounds of clover hay. This means that if corn was worth 70 cents a bushel and clover hay $15 ton, each ton of cottonseed meal fed the cattle saved the farmer S55 40 worth of other feed. With cottonseed meal at SPA a ton this is a net saving of $31.40- a saving we'll worth while.
 As a matter of fact cottonseed meal has been the principal concentrate fed to cattle in the South for years. In experiments conducted by the bureau of animal industry it was found that with this as the only concentrated feed gains could be made on steers very economically. Three hundred and fifty pounds of meal often pro- duced as much as 100 pounds of gain. When fed judieiously, six pounds of cottonseed meal day for a period of 100 to 120 days does not prove harmful to mature steers. If the steers are to be fed for longer period, how ever, the amount fed should not be more than four pounds a day. For wintering cattle 1t is hard to find a better or more economical ration than silage combined with two to three pounds of cottonseed meal and a little fodder or stover. Mature cattle can be wintered on ration of 30 pounds of silage, two pounds of cottonseed meal and about five pounds of some dry roughage. On such a ration steers will pass through the winter in ex- ceedingly good condition and even gain something in live weight
 But in addition to it's feeding value the fertilizing value of cottonseed