The Brinkley argus., 1917-11-02
WHAT AND HOW TC FEED MECHANICALLY.
Cheap Feed Should Be Fed To Breed. ing Herd, and Higher Priced Feeds
 To Calves and Yearlinqs.
By Louis Sawyer, Livestock Special
 ist Extension Division, U. of A

By Louis Sawyer, Livestock Special
 ist, Extension Division, U. of A.
 What and how to feed most econom- ically are the questions confronting the owner of livestock in Arkansas right now. In answering these ques- tions it may be said that straw, corn stover, corn sAage and other rough feeds should make up the bulk of the winter ration for the grade breeding herd. The cheap feeds should be fed priced feeds used for growing the calves and yearlings or finishing cat tie.
 Corn silage, corn stover, rice, rye, oat, wheat or barley straw and cane with about one pound of cotton seed cake per head per day will maintain the breeding herd through the winter and will furnish nutrient to develop the premature calf. The feeding Of part corn stover or corn silage and part straw with the cotton seeds cake is superior to the use of a single roughage.
 Straws: According to the present value of feeds the feeding value of straws per ton is ranked as follows: Rice, oat, barley, wheat, rye. Rice straw with its large amount of leaves and soft stem has about an equal feed ing value to timothy or prairie hay. Oat straw has soft stem but lower percentage of leaves. Barley straw ranks next to oat straw with it's low percentage of leaves and rather coarse stem. Wheat and rye straw are coarse and stiff and not as we'll eaten by cattle.
 Corn Stalks: Corn stalks are fed in four ways: Corn silage, shock stover, shredded stover and stalk fields. The greatest value received from the corn stalks is by making ensilage of them. They are thus kept in succulent form, are more easily digested and are very palatable.
 The shredded corn stover is the most valuable of the dry stover. It can be cut and blown into the barn. In this form it is easily handled. There is less waste and it is more di- gestible than the uncut stalk.
 The shock stover is the form in which the dry corn stalks are most satisfactorily handled and fed It r-- quires less labor and prevents much waste. The stalks and leaves are well cured when cut and shocked, while in the field many of the leaves are damaged and blown away and the entire stalk is in dry and unpalata- ble form. About 45 per cent of the corn stover in the United States is wasted mainly in the stalk field
 Dry corn stover is little superior in value to oat straw, the leaves are superior in value while the stalks make up the big waste.
 The feeding of all the corn stover that will be cleaned up, and all the straw that will be cleaned up and one pound of cotton seed cake or five or six pounds of legume hay per heaG per day make very satisfactory win- tering ration. Much greater value is received from the corn stover when it is fed with another roughage as straw.
 Protein Supplement-: The Velvet Bean is one of the best protein SUD- plements in the stalk field. In the northern sections of the state the le- gume hays as clover, alfalfa, or pea hou oan oociIxy ho nh A1 make up the protein supplement. It will require five or six pounds per head per day of the hays to supply sufficient protein. In the balance of the state the protein supplements easiest to obtain are cotton seed cake or pea vines. It will require one pound of the cake or five or six pounds of the pea vine per head per day.
 For growing young stock one and onehalf to two pounds of cotton seed cake or six to ten pounds of alfalfa, clover or pea hay should be fed with the roughage The larger amount of protein supplement is required with growing cattle as the rough feeds fur nish only heat and energy and the protein feeds are essential for the animals to make a gain.
 Thus, do not say straw, corn fodder and cane are worthless feeds because you do not get satisfactory results when you feed only one of them Feed at least two of them, as a corn stalk pasture or corn stover during the day and straw or cane in the morning or evening, when you also feed the cot ton seed cake or legume hay. It takes the combination and protein supplement for the breeding herd to