204 ANNUAL. REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Studies of differences in resistance to tuberculosis were continued 

 in cooperation with Dr. Paul A. Lewis, of the Rockefeller Founda 

 tion, and similar studies with pneumonia were begun in cooperation 

 with Dr. Eeynold Spaeth, of Johns Hopkins University. 



Studies of the inheritance of various characteristics of livestock 

 are being conducted by biometric methods. 



BEEF-CATTLE INVESTIGATIONS. 



Investigations in the production and fattening of beef cattle were 

 continued in the Appalachian region, the Corn Belt, the Cotton 

 Belt, and the western and southwestern range ureas, in cooperation 

 with the respective State agricultural experiment stations. The 

 Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the department also cooperated 

 in the investigations in the Corn Belt and range areas. Results of 

 the work are published from time to time. 



FATTENING STEERS IN THE COKN BELT. 



Investigations in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska 

 to determine the basic requirements in feed, labor, and miscellaneous 

 items in fattening beef cattle, planned to cover a period of five years, 

 are now in their last year. Approximately 100 feeding records have 

 been taken annually in each of the five States. The total yearly 

 survey involves from 18,000 to 20,000 head of beef cattle. The sur- 

 veys make it possible to compare the methods and economy of pro- 

 duction. Data for four years have been compiled for publication. 



WINTERING STEERS IN THE APPALACHIAN REGION. 



At Lewisburg, W. Va., the final year's work in a three-year ex- 

 periment in wintering 2-year-old steers to determine the effect of 

 winter rations on the gains made upon pasture the following summer 

 was concluded in September, 1922. The results have been prepared 

 for publication. 



A new experiment was begun in December to study the growth of 

 weanling calves on various winter rations followed by sunuiier 

 grazing on bluegrass pasture. 



FEEDING BEEF CATTLE IN THE COTTON BELT. 



At the Coastal Plain Experiment Station, McNeill, Miss., a three- 

 year project to study the gains made by cattle on native pastures 

 burned off each winter, has been completed. The results show that 

 when the cattle are grazed at the rate of one head to 10 acres they 

 make satisfactory gains until about the middle of June and then 

 barely maintain their weight until frost. When the rate of grazing 

 was heavier the same rate of gain per animal was obtained for a 

 longer time, because the maturing of the native grasses was retarded. 



A new project was begun in March in cooperation with the Forest 

 Service to compare the effects of burning and not l^urning nati^'e 

 pasture on the gains made by the cattle, the kind of grasses which 

 survive, and the extent and kind of reforestation which takes place. 



