80 



From the above table it will be seen that the average 

 daily gain of calves having from 50 to 100 per cent, of 

 beef blood, was .72 pound, and that the^average daily 

 gain of thoroughbred and grade beef cows was 1.1 

 pounds. 



The pasture was strictly unimproved, or in its natural 

 condition, and consisted chiefly of old poor upland fields, 

 too poor for cultivation, on which the principal growth 

 lespedeza and broom sage. 



In order to determine the amount of beef which might 

 ])e produced frcmi an acre of pasture, a portion of the pas- 

 ture of the Alabama Experiment Station farm was fenc- 

 ed oft' and four young steers were kept on it from April 

 1 to November 1, 1903. The following table gives the 

 breeding of the animals, their weight on April 1, and the 

 gain made during the next seven months. 



Gains made by four yearling steers from April 1 to No- 

 vember I, 1903. 



Name. 



Breed. 





Toom I i/o Red Poll . . 



Dangus [Vz Angus .... 



Holstein JHolst-shorthorn 



Cull IScrub 



2581 1.20 



353| 1.64 



310| 1.44 



2701 1.26 



The area in this pasture was 13.11 acres, of which 

 about 3 . 1 acres was covered by a dense growth of alders 

 and other timber. On this area the total increase in live 

 weight made by the four steers was 1191 pounds, or at 

 the rate of 91 pounds of increase in live weight for each 

 acre, including thickets. At 3 cents per pound, this is 



equivalent to a rental of |2.73 per acre for the entire 

 tract, although, if cultivated, the rental value of the en- 

 tire tract would not have exceeded half this amount. 



