154 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 



feed at the approach of grass and fattened as two year olds, they 

 are best handled in another way. 



One of the commonest mistakes is to allow what the farmer 

 calls the "grass shrink" to occur. This means that the cattle 

 have been allowed to remain on pasture until the grass is so 

 short, or on account of fall rains the late growth is so immature and 

 washy, that the animals shrink decidedly in weight. It is a uni- 

 versally good practice to supplement the pastures with some sort of 

 feed the moment they become so short as to fail to maintain at 

 least the weight of the animal. It is better to adopt the policy of 

 feeding the animals the moment the pasture ceases to produce 

 good gains. 



Another common mistake is the turning of cattle to pasture too 

 early in the spring when the grass is yet soft and washy and con- 

 tains really very little nourishment. It is bad both for the stock 

 and for the pasture. 



r^ - 



^0 





Fig. 9. Harvesting pure-bred corn on the Agricultural College Farm for the silo. 



As before intimated, the method of wintering should be varied 

 in accordance with what is to be done with the animals the follow- 

 ing summer. 



// to be Grazed the Following Summer — If the steers are to be 

 grazed the following summer, it has already been pointed out that 

 there is a very definite limit to the amount of fat it is profitable to 

 put on these animals in winter. 



