farmers' institutes. 2(35 



steer of 0.14 pound, more than those in the barn. Those in the oiion 

 lot ate 31 bushels more corn and 0.73 ton more hay and gained 107 

 pounds, a daily gain per steer of 0.26 pound more than the lot fed 

 in the barn. 



It will be noticed that in the last two trials the steers in the 

 open lot made better gains than even those fed in the open shed ; 

 and, while they ate more in the last trial, in the third they ate less 

 than the open shed lot. 



In these experiments the steers in the barn were kept in a rea- 

 sonably tight but well ventilated barn with a plank floor and were 

 allov/ed to run loose. They were kept well bedded. During pleasant 

 weather they were allowed the run of a well drained lot from 8 

 o'clock in the morning to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. They were 

 turned into the lot for water every day, but in stormy weather were 

 put back in barn as soon as they were watered. 



The open shed was closed on the north, east and west and open 

 on the south. It had a dirt floor which was kept well bedded to keep 

 it as dry as possible. This shed opened into a lot of about the same 

 size as the one used for those in the barn. The steers were fed and 

 watered in the shed, but had free access to the lot in all kinds of 

 weather. 



For those which were fed in the open lot some corn stalks were 

 thrown in one corner of the lot to give them a dry place to lie. 



All these trials gave practically the same results. While the 

 difiference in gains in open shed and open lot show no marked differ- 

 ence in favor of the open shed, yet from all results it seems fair to 

 say that when much winter feeding is done it is profitable to furnish 

 a suitable shelter for the cattle for their feed, and particularly to give 

 them a dry place on which to lie. But from the results of the ex- 

 periments it does not seem profitable to try to make this shelter 

 Avarm. 



Not being satisfied with these results the station manager de- 

 cided to ask the opinion of the leading feeders of Missouri, Iowa, Illi- 

 nois and Nebraska. They found that out of 663 feeders, 117, or 17.6 

 per cent, preferred barn ; 392, or 59 per cent, preferred open shed ; 154, 

 or 23.2 per cent, preferred open lot. 



Notice that over one-half preferred the open shed. It is inter- 

 esting to note also that many of those who preferred a barn described 

 the kind of a barn the}^ used and it was practicall}^ little more than 

 an open shed. .So it was found that the experience of practical feeders 

 verifies the result of the experiment. 



