64 



II, (HI cotton seed and mixed hay, netted .'1 ]ier eent. ; 

 Lot III, on cotton seed an<l s'trjilinni hay, netted iaO.fi j)er 

 cent. : Lot T^^ on cotton seed and corn stover, netted 51.>) 

 per cent. 



In other words, (in this basis alone, tlie luicker conld 

 liave afforded to i>ay a preniinni of one-fonrtli cent per 

 |)ound oross for Lot I, in comparis(;n with Lot III. It 

 is bnt fair to add that if Mac weights in Bir]uin!.iham 

 conld have been ascertained the percentages of dressed 

 nii^at wonld doitbtless have ranged C(nisiderably higher. 



Fl XAXCIAL IvETURXS. 



For o() <J(ii;s. — The cattle cost '2^/^c jxn' ponnd in No- 

 vember. Xo charge is here made for freight, since on a 

 fraction of a carload this was a very heavy expense per 

 head, and since, moreover, the few Alabama cattle that 

 could have been had withont any freight charges would 

 have cost no more near home than was ]>aid for this 

 larger and more uniform lot of cattle in ^Mississippi. 

 During the period between the purchase of these cattle, 

 in November, 1903, and their sale, in ]March, 1904, to a 

 packing house in Birmingham, Alabama, the prices of 

 cattle fell. The estimated decline in the price of cattle 

 of this grade Avas about i/.c per pound. Hence, under 

 normal conditions and with a market neither ad- 

 vancing nor declining, we should have realized i-iC more 

 X3er pound than the cattle actually l)rought, which would 

 have given a fair profit on eacii of the four lots. 



The price paid in our lots at Auburn was Sy-> cents 

 ])(']• pound for the best ten steers, 314 cents per pound 

 for the five steers ranking next, and 3 cents per pound 

 for the five poorest steers. 



Bince the sains made bv most of the steers wevv (luite 

 unsatisfactory during the third period, and since this is 



