1918.] ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 871 



had an added cost in the spring of $1.40 per 100 lbs. Lot 3 cost $6.7G to winter, 

 lost 52 lbs. per head per season, and had an added cost of .$1.47 per 100 lbs. 

 Lot 4 cost $5.39, gained an average of 20 lbs. per season, and had an added 

 cost in the spring of 6S cts. per 100 lbs. In these experiments the average 

 requirements of pasture for the winter were 1.8 acres per head. 



II. Winter grazing of steers. — In the second experiment the winter grazing of 

 cattle was tried out on mountain cut-over lands too steep for general agi-icul- 

 ture. The coves and flats were seeded to a mixture of 15 lbs. of orchard grass, 

 4 lbs. of blue grass, and 7 lbs. of timothy and clover per acre sown in corn at its 

 last cultivation. This was allowed to grow during the following summer to 

 malve winter pasture. During the three years of the experiment the cattle 

 were put on the pasture late in the fall and were without shelter during the 

 entire winter. During stormy weather it was necessary to feed, this period 

 averaging less than three weeks each season. 



The first year 17 cattle on pasture cost $4.66 per head to winter and weighed 

 17 lbs. heavier in the spring ; the second winter 26 head averaged $6.29 to winter 

 and were 17 lbs. heavier ; the third winter 16 head averaged $5.23 to winter 

 and weighed 26 lbs. more per head in the spring. The average cost per head for 

 three years was .$5.39, approximately one-half of what it cost to dry-feed cattle 

 in the barn, besides showing a gain in weight while the latter showed a loss. 

 Winter grazing and the use of the silo promise greater gains in these rough 

 mountain lands in wintering cattle than the old methods of using dry har- 

 vested roughage. 



III. Summer fattening of steers. — This experiment, carried on for three years, 

 was made with the steers wintered on dry roughage, on dry roughage and 

 silage, and on winter grass. Most of the mountain cattle are finished on grass, 

 but the.se were finished on grass alone and on grass with cottonseed cake. Dur- 

 ing the first two summers the feeding of cottonseed cake on grass was profitable, 

 but in the third season it was not so, owing to its high price. 



The results show that the cattle that had been wintered on pasture produced 

 the best gains the following summer with an average of 350 lbs. per head at a 

 cost of 3.1 cts. per pound. The next most economical results were made by the 

 cattle wintered on silage, stover, and hay, followed by grass in summer. They 

 made an average gain per head for the summer of 319 lbs. at a cost of 3.9 cts. 

 per pound. The dry-fed wintered cattle on grass the following .summer made an 

 average gain of 344 lbs. per steer at a cost of 4.8 cts. per pound. The silage- 

 wintered cattle on summer pasture and cottonseed cake made gains of 328 lbs. 

 at a cost of 6.5 cts. per pound, compared with 3.8 cts. per pound without the 

 cake. The cattle wintered on dry rations during the following summer on pas- 

 ture made gains of 314 lbs. at a cost of 7.4 cts. per pound with cake, contrasted 

 with gains at a cost of 4.8 cts. per pound without the cake. 



IV. Winter fattening of steers. — It is the custom in the mountain districts to 

 sell the steers in the fall as feeders. There are, however, oftentimes corn and 

 roughages available for fattening such cattle. These experiments were carried 

 out to test the profitableness of utilizing the.se home-grown feeds supplemented 

 with cottonseed meal and hulls. 



In the winter of 1913-14 one lot of 12 steers was fed cottonseed meal, cotton- 

 seed hulls, corn stover, and hay. A second lot of 12 was fed the same plus ear 

 corn. During 113 days the steers in lot 1 averaged an increase daily of 1.36 lbs. 

 per head at a cost of 13.32 cts. per pound, and lot 2, 1.42 lbs. at 13.92 cts. per 

 pound. 



In the winter of 1914-15 four lots of steers consisting of 10, 10, 21, and 26 

 head each were fed. All the animals received cottoaseed meal. In addition 



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