598 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



SUBCLASSES. 



Texas and Western range (;attle. Distillers. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Baby beef. Dress beef cattle. 



Export cattle. Stags. 



Shipping steers. 



The different classes and grades are discussed and described. Some of the author's 

 deductions follow: 



"The names of the various classes indicate the uses to which cattle in those classes 

 are put. The grades refer to quality, condition, and conformation, the relative 

 importance of which factors, so far as they influence market values, is indicated by 

 the order in which they have been enumerated, quality being of greatest importance, 

 condition next, and conformation of least importance. Weight has relatively but 

 small influence in determining the grade and price of fat cattle. Quality and condi- 

 tion largely govern both. 



" [The producers should] become thoroughly familiar with the characteristics of 

 prime steers and choice feeders; these are the standard grades of fat cattle and feeders. 

 Fluctuations in the market affect these grades less than others. It is, thei'efore, 

 more difficult to determine an approximately correct valuation for a lot of low-grade 

 cattle than for cattle of higher grades. 



' ' The terms export, shipping, and dressed beef steers are no longer significant of any 

 particular grade of cattle. Several different grades and even different classes are 

 exported, shipped, and used for dressed beef. The most desirable steer for export, 

 for shipping, and for the best grades of dressed beef either for domestic or foreign 

 trade is the same in each instance. The best grade of any class of cattle must be 

 practically above criticism. 



"When cattle grade the best of their class they command a premium on the market. 

 Such cattle usually sell at strong prices and for their full value. Cattle of the lower 

 grades, necessarily deficient in certain particulars, sell at a discount, which in many 

 instances is greater than their inferiority demands. Thus it will be seen that the 

 tendency is to spring the market for choice, prime, and fancy grades while the com- 

 mon and medium grades are seldom, if ever, sold for more than they are worth, and 

 many times they do not bring their full value owing to a tendency on the part of 

 l)uyers to magnify defects of minor importance." 



Feeding- native steers, A. M. Soule and J. R. Fain ( Te)messee Sta. Bui. Vol. 

 XV, No. 3, pp. III-I40, figs. 14)- — Continuing previous work on the possibility of 

 profitably feeding native Tennessee steers (E. S. R., 13, p. 76), 3 tests were made to 

 compare dry and succulent rations, cowpea hay and cotton-seed meal, and to learn 

 the relative merits of cotton-seed meal and cotton-seed bran. The lots used in the 3 

 tests were numbered consecutively. In the first test, which was made in 1900, 2 lots 

 of 4 steers each were fed corn meal and corn stover, lot 1 receiving cowpea hay in 

 addition and lot 2 a mixture of cotton-seed meal and cotton-seeil bran. 



Three lots oi 4 and 1 of 3 steers were used in the second test, whicli was carried on 

 in 1901. All the lots were fed corn meal. In addition, lots 3 and 5 were fed cowpea 

 hay and lots 4 and 6 cotton-seed meal. Lots 3 and 4 were also fed corn stover and 

 lots 5 and 6 silage; for 60 days this consisted of corn and during the remainder of the 

 test of sorghum. 



The test in 1902 was also made with 3 lots of 4 and 1 of 3 steers. The grain ration 

 of lots 7 and 8 consisted of corn meal and cotton-seed meal, 1:2; that of lots 9 and 10 

 of cotton-seed meal and cotton-seed bran, 52: 48. In addition to corn, lots 7 and 9 

 were fed cowpea hay and silage, and lots 8 and 10 cowpea hay and corn stover. 

 After 30 days the feeding of cotton-seed meal to lots 9 and 10 was discontinued and 



