S28 ANNUAL. REPORT OF Tttfi Off. Doc. 



tied up in stanchions or fstalls which must be cleaned out daily even 

 when the manure removed is stored under shed. One of the conclu- 

 sions of this test was that, ''The money-value of the fertilizer con- 

 stituents lost by the second as compared with the first method is 

 equivalent to $2.30 for each steer stabled for six months." 



While this difference may seem small it is undoubtedly worth con- 

 sidering where fertilizers must be bought, especially since the 

 trampled manure seems to be in better mechanical condition. 



There is yet another advantage in the pen or box stall over the 

 stanchion; that is in the saving of labor. The question of labor is 

 always an important one. In no manner can the crops be fed with 

 so little labor as to beef animals. One of the advantages which 

 beef production has over milk production is in the less amount of 

 labor required. A man can tend to fifty fattening steers as easily as 

 to ten milk cows. The steers can be handled with much less labor 

 if kept in pens or large stalls of from ten to twenty each than if 

 kept tied up. They can be kept cleaner in the pens with less labor. 

 They can be fed more quickly and much or little bedding may be 

 used as desired. 



Two tests were made at the Pennsylvania Experiment Station 

 to compare the amount of time required to care for steers confined 

 by these two methods. In the first test with five steers in each lot 

 it appeared that it required about one-fifth more time to care for 

 steers tied up than for those loose in pens. In the second test with 

 ten steers in the pen and six tied up it appeared that 100 steers tied 

 required as much labor as 180 loose in pens. The gains in live-weight 

 and the consumption of food were practically the same for each lot. 

 The results of these two experiments have been published in Bul- 

 letins Nos. 53 and 57. 



It does not pay, therefore, to fasten the steers up with stanchions 

 and chains. The greater expense for the equipment for the method 

 is also against it. The practice of tying originated when steers 

 wore horns and it was then necessary for the safety of both cattle 

 and feeder, but now when everything is dehorned, the need no 

 longer exists. A man buying cattle for feeders should refuse all 

 that have their horns on. If he raises them of course he will de- 

 horn them while they are young. 



Warm quarters are not necessary for steers when being fattened. 

 Experiments at Pennsylvania vState College reported in Bulletins 

 Nos. 64 and 74, have indicated that temperature of surroundings 

 has very little to do with the economy of gains. In fact it has been 

 proved that there is much more liability of basement stables be- 

 ing too warm than too cold for fattening steers. Open sheds well 

 ventilated with a small dry yard attached are fully as satisfactory 

 as barns. The cost of such sheds would of course be much less. 



The preparation of the feed always requires some labor and 

 expenditure. Even if the farmer raises his own corn it has usually 

 been thought that it is not economy to feed it unground, but recent 

 experiments at the Pennsylvania State College indicate that broken 

 ear corn is about as valuable as corn and cob meal for fattening 

 steers. Where the farmers lives some distance from the mill, the 

 time lost hauling the corn to and from there is quite considerable. 

 The miller will seldom grind for less than |2 per ton. The ear corn 

 may be broken as fed for a much less expenditure than that. A 



