398 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"The profit in feeding beef cattle is made, not by producing new growth at less 

 cost per pound than it sells for, but in the increased value of the original weight, 

 due to fattening. A margin of 1 cent per pound between purchase price and selling 

 price is desirable. 



"About 7 lbs. of raw cotton seed was fed in the daily ration without injury t<> the 

 health of the average steer." 



Some data arc given regarding the cost of raising cattle under different conditions. 

 Three grade steers, when 2 years old, fed on skim milk, grain, hay, and pasturage, 

 weighed, on an average, 867 lbs., the cost of a pound of gain being 2.12 cts. On rye 

 pasture alone yearling steers gained 1.67 lbs. per head daily. Grade calves on pas- 

 ture alone gained 0.72 11). per head daily and yearling steers 1.43 lbs. During the 

 pasturage season of 7 months the average gains in live weight of cattle of different 

 ages on unimproved sandy pasture ranged from 8 per cent with mature cows nursing 

 calves to 51 per cent with sucking calves. The author points out that "on the win- 

 ter range cattle of all ages became very thin, and, in the opinion of the writer, it 

 would have been highly prolitable ... to have supplied them with hay and other 

 food during the winter." 



Rice meal and corn meal, fed with hay and skim milk, were compared with 2 lots 

 of 2 calves each, the experimental period covering 91 days. The average daily gain 

 on the rice-meal ration was 1.6 lbs. per head and on the corn-meal ration 1.9 lbs. 

 Considerable more feed was required per pound of gain with the rice-meal than 

 with the corn-meal ration. In the author's opinion "rice meal proved decidedly 

 inferior to corn meal." 



When inferior shredded corn stover was fed to calves 37 per cent was refused. 

 When a shredded corn stover of good quality was fed freely to steers 44 per cent was 

 rejected. The waste when slightly moldy coarse sorghum hay was fed to steers 

 averaged 20 per cent. 



Methods of steer feeding, T. I. MAiRsand A. K. Risser (Pennsylvania Sta. Bui. 68, 

 /<//. 10).— Continuing earlier work (E. S. R., 15, p. 894), the relative merits of feed- 

 ing steers in barns and open sheds were studied with 2 lots of 12 animals each, the 

 experimental conditions being practically the same as before except that the grain 

 ration consisted of corn-and-cob meal and cotton-seed meal 9:1. The feeding records 

 covered 98 days. 



The steers fed in the barn made a total gain of 1,017 lbs., requiring 13.81 lbs. of 

 feed per pound of gain, at a cost of 9.87 cts. The steers fed in the shed gained 1,027 

 lbs., requiring 15.32 lbs. of feed per pound of gain, at a cost of 11.01 cts. During 

 almost the entire period the authors noticed that the steers fed in the barn seemed 

 to have somewhat better appetites than those fed outside. Records were kept of the 

 temperature throughout the test. 



"The general result of this experiment is similar to that of the preceding one 

 along the same line, namely, that the steers in the barn ate a little less feed for 

 a pound of gain than those in the open shed. The results, however, differ in this, 

 that whereas in the first experiment the total feed eaten by the steers in the barn 

 was somewhat less than that eaten by those in the shed, in the second experiment 

 the total feed eaten by the steers in the shed was somewhat less than that eaten by 

 those in the barn. 



"It would seem that whatever advantage is shown by the barn over the shed as 

 shelter for fattening steers is not due to the higher temperature of the barn, but to some 

 other condition of environment. It is possible that" in this case the fact that the shed 

 was not sufficiently bedded, rendering it uncomfortable for the steers, prevented the 

 outdoor lot from making as good gains as they otherwise should have made." 



Cuban cattle and pasture grasses, F. C. Giltner (Breeder' s Gaz., 45 (1904), No. 

 .'/, pp. 1182-1134, figs. 10). — Data are given regarding the kind of cattle raised in 



