61 



fall of 1009, and were the best of a herd of about 300 head 

 cf inijtroved callle. None of them was pure bred, but 

 all luid been graded up by the use of Hereford. Aber- 

 deen- Angus and Sh(;rlhorn sires. They varied from ? 

 to 3 years in age The average weight of each animal 

 at the beginning of the lest was approximately 830 

 j)ounds. so they were larger than the average southern 

 •cattle. This increased size was due to the improved beef 

 blood. 



As these cattle were better than the average cattle of 

 the State they cost more in the fall than is usually paid 

 for Alabama cattle. They were valued at 3V4 cents a 

 pounds when test began. D( cend^er 1, 1009. 



viETHrjD CF (:nM)L(Ti\(; the work. 



The cattle were fed under average farm conditions. 

 Mr. V. I. Derby, a farmer and stockiuan of Sumter Goun- 

 fy, Alabama, agreed to cooperate with the Alabama Ex- 

 periment Station and the Bureau of Animal Industry in 

 this work, and the feeding was all done upon his farm. 

 Mr. Derby furnished the cattle and the feed, and the 

 work was planned and the feeding carried on under the 

 supervision of the authors of the bulletin. Mr. J. W. 

 Ridgway. was stationed upon the farm and had personal 

 .su])ervision of the experiment. 



No artificial shelter was provided for the cattle and 

 no trees were in the feed lots, so they did not even have 

 fhe protection \\hich trees afl'ord. They were fed in the 

 open fields, as no shelter is needed in Alabama for ma- 

 ture fattening cattle.. As Mr. Derby's main object in 

 feeding cattle is to enrich his farm, the cattle were fed 

 on areas which were to be subsequently planted in either 

 cotton or corn. The cattle were fed upon fields consist- 

 ing of about 10 acres of land to each lot of 20 cattl?. 

 AA'hile no account was kept of the amount of manure 

 made, still it is known from subsequent work that the 

 60 head of cattle made at least 1 ton ol manure each 

 day, or 84 tons for the whole feeding period of 84 dayS; 

 The manure, of course, added vely much to the fertili- 

 fy-Sf the land upon which it Was dropped. - -' 



