84 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



for grazing cattle, but hundreds of farmers are now diversifying 

 their crops and establishing herds of good cattle. The farmers of the 

 brown-loam section have been forced to take up live-stock raising 

 because of the ravages of the boll weevil and because no other form 

 of farming has proved so generally satisfactory or profitable. About 

 200 steers and calves were used during the past winter in an experi- 

 mental study of methods of fattening animals for the market. The 

 use of supplementary feeds for summer feeding on pasture is being 

 studied in both sections. A herd of breeding cows has been secured 

 for making a study of the cost of raising beef calves in the brown- 

 loam section. Breeding and feeding records are kept of each female 

 in the herd. 



In continuation of the experimental cattle-feeding work in coopera- 

 tion with the North Carolina experiment station a test was made to 

 determine the most economical method of wintering steers in North 

 Carolina. It has been found that steers can be wintered very econom- 

 ically on mountain meadow land on which the grass and clovers have 

 been permitted to grow up after the first cutting. Such meadows 

 were made by cutting the brush off the steep mountain sides, burning 

 the brush, and sowing the seed on the ashes and the partial sod of 

 grass. Such lands could be utilized for grazing purposes only, 

 jfearling steers, receiving no other feed except the grass, actually 

 gained in weight during the winter and were wintered at a cost of 

 about $5 a head, while steers kept in the dry lot and given feed lost 

 some in weight, and the cost of wintering was from $8 to $10 each. 

 Three carloads of heavy steers were used in testing different methods 

 of fattening cattle for the market. 



Experimental work in beef production was taken up in coopera- 

 tion with the West Virginia experiment station. An experiment was 

 carried on to determine the most economical rations for wintering 

 yearling steers in dry lots. At the end of the wintering period all of 

 the steers were put on grass, and the effects of the winter feeding 

 upon the gains made during the summer are being studied. The 

 results indicate that it is cheaper to winter steers on a ration of 

 cottonseed meal, corn silage, and oat straw than to use only dry 

 roughage, such as hay and straw. 



BEEF-CATTLE EXTENSION WORK. 



The appropriation act for the fiscal j^ear 1915 included an item for 

 live-stock demonstration work in the areas freed of ticks. This work 

 was taken up in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, 

 and Arkansas, in cooperation with the State agricultural colleges and 

 the Office of Experiment Stations (now the States Relations Service) 

 of the department. 



The beef-cattle agents have formed 35 live-stock associations and 

 addressed over 250 groups of farmers, numbering over 19,000 persons. 

 Eight hundred and twenty-seven head of registered beef cattle for 

 breeding purposes and several hundred hogs have been brought into 

 the territory in which the work is conducted. Definite demonstra- 

 tions with live stock have been carried on. These embrace cattle feed- 

 ing, hog feeding, improvement of permanent pastures, silo building, 

 castration, and dehorning. 



In South Carolina 203 cattle were fed by small farmers under in- 

 struction of the department's agents, and were sold cooperatively at 



