VOL. LXVII
INDIANAPOLIS, MAY 11, 1912.
NO. 19
Indiana Cattle Feeders Meet
Results of Feeding Experiment Helpful to All
Stockmen.
EXPERT TELLS  OF  CATTLE  SITUATION.
The Indiana Cattle Feeders' Association held a very successful semi-annual meeting last Saturday in the Live
Stock Pavilion at Purdue        	
University. The weather
was good and despite the
facts that the spring rush
of t*t*m work was so
pressing there were some
three hundred and fifty
enthusiastic cattle feeders in attendance. It was
surprising to note the
number who came in
their automobiles. At the
beginning of the meeting
there were in the neighborhood of twenty handsome machines lined up
on the lawn just outside
of  the  pavilion.
The principal object of
this spring meeting was
to allow the visiting
feeders to inspect the
experimental cattle
which had just finished
a 160-day fattening test.
The test was conducted
with seven lots of steers,
ten in each lot. The
object was to determine
the relative value of silage as a supplemental
feed in fattening beef
steers on the high-priced
lands of the corn belt.
Professor F. G. King, assistant in animal husbandry at the experiment       	
station, who had charge of the test,
obtained the cattle last fall as feeders
°n the Kansas City and Chicago markets at  $5.55.
The cattle were fed on a grain ration
°f shelled corn and cottonseed meal.
The roughage of the different lota consisted of clover hay and oats straw in
connection with corn silage. Among
other things the results of the test
demonstrated:
That a nitrogenous concentrate such
a' cottonseed meal can be profitably
fed with silage.
That oat straw In combination with
silage effected practically the same results as when clover hay was used.
That very economical gains were
made with cattle fed 60 days exclu-
sively on silage In advance of the final
"nishing period.
That heavy-boned, northern-bred
cattle made better gains than lightened,   southern-bred   steers.
During the feeding trial the value
of the cattle as a whole increased $3.20
per cwt. and returned profits varying
fr°m $8.34 to $26.21 per head. The
selling value of theae cattle was the
"'Ehest ever received at Purdue for an
entire drove of experimental cattle.
Silage Produees Greatest Profit.
The lot of cattle that was fed  op
silage as a roughage produced the
greatest profit. In this lot the cattle
made a gain of 2.52 pounds per day
per head at a cost of $9.88 per cwt.
Messrs. J. T. Alexander and Allen
Eeeler, who placed values on all the
lots of cattle just before the meeting,
placed these steers at $8.75 per cwt.
according to the Chicago market. To
this price Prof. King deducted 40
cents per    hundred    pounds   for ship-
2.16 pounds per head, and at cost of
gain of $11.27 per cwt This lot of
cattle returned a profit of $19.66 per
head. The cattle that had clover hay
in their ration made the least profit,
but as has been said, this was due to
the high price of clover.
Ca.tle Were Insneoteed.
After Prof. King's remarks, Dean
Skinner invited the stockmen to the
feeding yards where the stock was inspected and discussed. It is the plan
of those in charge to sell the stock and
have records kept of the killing and
subsequently  publish  a  bulletin  cover-
Inspecting Experimental Cattle at the Recent Meeting of Indiana Cattle Feeders at Purdue.
ping,  which  made the cattle return  a
profit of $26.21 per head.
One of the most important points
brought out by the test was the remarkable efficiency of the corn silage as compared to clover hay in fattening. The differences between the
profits of the various lots was largely
due to the value of clover hay which
was valued  at  $20.00   per  ton.
Oats Straw a Good Roughage.
The lot of cattle that made next to
the highest profit were fed, in addition
to the shelled corn and cottonseed
meal, silage twice daily and oats straw.
The rate of gain was 2.4 pounds per
day per head, and the cost of gain was
$10.16. The selling value was $8.68
per cwt. in Chicago and the profit was
$24.54.
The lots that ranked third and
fourth were also fed some oats straw.
The third most profitable lot received
oats straw, silage and cottonseed meal
the entire time and the first sixty days
no corn was fed. Their rate of gain
was 2.2 pounds daily per head at a
cost of $9.50 per cwt. Their returns
as profits were $24.16 per head.
The lot that ranked fourth was fed
shelled corn, cottonseed meal, oats
straw once a day and corn silage once
a day.   This lot made a daily gain of
ing in detail the results. Dean Skinner called attention to the fact that
these cattle had been handled on a
purely commercial basis and under
conditions that could be duplicated on
almost any Indiana farm. The cattle
had been fed to make money and this
had been accomplished.
In the beginning of the afternoon
a short business session was held at
which resolutions were passed urging
the necessity of encouraging cattle
feeding in Indiana and asking for an
appropriation for a hog and cattle
feeding train. A resolution was passed to co-operate with the Indiana
Corn Growers' Association in their efforts to induce state railroads to carry
agricultural lime at a low rate. The
fact w*Ji8 brought out that the greatest
drawback in the use of lime was its
freight rate, for its price at the mines
was comparatively low.
The executive committee was empowered to broaden Its scope of action and the functions of the association, heretofore purely educational,
will now embrace any matter concerning the welfare of the feeding industry in Indiana.
The Passing of the Range Cattle.
After the business session, Mr. John
Clay, of Chicago, spoke on the passing
of the range and the effect It is having
upon current and prospective supplies
of cattle in the corn belt. He pictured his early life upon the western
range and told many interesting experiences. The year 1886 with its fearful winter did much to put down the
range. In the fall of 1886 Mr. Clay
helped care for a herd of 5500 three-
year old cattle. They were turned upon the range. In the spring of 1887,
after the very cold winter only 111 of
the entire  herd could  be found.
In addition to the severe winters,
the small  ranchmen and settlers crowd-
 .      ed    in  and     pushed    the
cowboy and the range
cattle back. Then came
the sheepmen with sheep
that flocked together thus
enabling their owners to
take better care of them.
This industry developed
so rapidly that the west
became over stocked
with  sheep.
Cattle Decreasing.
M/i\ Clay showed by
statistics that the population was increasing
while the cattle supply
was decreasing. During
the last ten years the
supply of feeders has increased 18 per cent.
Mr. Clay said: "Never
before has it been so difficult to pick up in the
corn belt states young
cattle for either grazing
or feed lot use. Pros-
to buy them at the larg-
pective buyers are forced
er markets. This brings
them in direct competition with the packers
who need such kinds of
cheap beef. For five
years there has been a
tremendous     demand   for
        cheap   beef.      This  in  no
small measure has contributed to depleting the stock of cows ■ and heifers
available for beef in most parts of the
middle west and east to such an extent that packers have been forced to
draw heavily upon the young steers
that normally and properly belong In
the feed lots.
'This shortage is shown by the fact
that pastures in the southwest have
been receiving cattle from markets as
far east as Chicago at a time when
the average price of stocker and
feeder cattle at Chicago the first four
months of 1912 was around $5.35; the
highest ever known, and was 60 cents
per cwt., higher than the five-year average."
The long looked for shortage of beef
which has now arrived must be met,
according to Mr. Clay, by better methods of government supervision of public lands in the Range Country. Under
an administration of the public lands
whereby settlers may secure long time
leases upon these lands, the production of feeder cattle would be stimulated, so that In a few years our supply
would reach normal again. In absence
of such beneficial public land legislation, however, the burden of supply
falls upon the men in the feeding and
of the country, the corn belt, who will,
under  the  stimulation  of  high  prices