496 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



(3) The amount of labor required to care for animals under these 

 various conditions. 



E,rperlment No. 2. {Dec. 6, 1900, March 19, 1901.) 



In order to make this test as satisfactory as possible under practi- 

 cal conditions, space was set aside in the basement of the college 

 barn in a similar manner to that described in Bulletin No. 67. 

 Three lots of steers were used in this experiment. One lot, Lot 

 No.l, consisting of ten animals, was placed in a large box stall 20x21^ 

 feet in area, which is exactly the same space that the ten steers 

 would have occupied had they been placed in stalls; that is, the 

 stalls were removed and the space occui)ied by the stalls enclosed 

 by high board partitions, which made, to all intents and purposes, 

 a large box stall. On account of the lack of space. Lots Nos. 2 and 

 3 consisted of but six steers each. These were kept in stalls ad- 

 joining the box stall. Lot No. 1 (in the box stall) was supplied 

 with water furnished by means of automatic watering basins, in 

 which water was kept before the animals all of the time except 

 when the water was withheld for a short time previous to the 

 weighing periods. Lot No. 2, which consisted of six animals, was 

 supplied with w^ater by means of automatic watering basins similar 

 to Lot No. 1. Lot No. 3 consisted of six animals, and w'as placed 

 in stalls in a similar manner to Lot No. 2, with the exception that 

 the steers were turned out once each day for an hour or two in a 

 large yard adjoining the basement, where they were permitted to 

 drink in common from a large watering trough. The animals of 

 Lots Nos. 1 and 2 were not removed from the pen and stalls except 

 as it was desired to weigh them on alternate weeks. 



'»' 



The Animals. 



The steers used in this experiment were purchased at the 

 stock yards in Pittsburg, November 21, 1900, by ]\Ir. William C. 

 Patterson, the Farm Superintendent, and the writer. In this con- 

 nection, it should be stated that Mr. Patterson has successfully 

 fattened one or more carloads of steers on the college farm each 

 year for many years, and is recognized as an expert buyer. The 

 steers selected were dehorned grade Shorthorn steers raised in east- 

 em Ohio, and were carefully selected as to size, age and quality, 

 so f.u as outward appearance would indicate. The steers were 

 sorted into lots soon after they were purchased and were confined 

 in the pens and stalls until the experiment was begun. The steers 

 were sorted with great care in order that the lots might be as 

 uniform as possible and at the same time have nearly the same 

 average weiglit. These steers were tame and considerably above the 



