CATTLE GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 801 



season of the year, and with good thrifty steers the gain in flesh 

 is very rapid. My greatest success in cattle feeding has been 

 by beginning to feed grain about the first of March and feed 

 lightly, but enough so that I can see some improvement, and as 

 soon as the pastures are good, turn to grass. Cattle managed 

 in this way will not be injured by the transition from grain to 

 grass, as those will which have been for mortths on full feed; 

 but the start the grain has given them will be a great benefit, 

 and enable them at once to begin to gain and thrive, and a few 

 weeks' grazing makes them salable. I have often bought cows 

 and heifers that were very thin in flesh the first of March, and 

 fed them each ten bushels of corn, or less, then grazed a month, 

 and sold to the butchers at a price which paid one dollar per 

 bushel for the corn and from five to ten dollars a month for 

 pasturing. The advantages of this plan of feeding are many, 

 and I can recommend it with great confidence. I often find 

 that I can make the most money from my pastures by stocking 

 heavily at this season of the year, and then selling off the stock, 

 so as to leave the pastures but lightly stocked for the rest of 

 the season. This leaves the roots well protected and insures 

 early pasture next spring. 



I find March and April the best months for feeding roots to 

 cattle, and I have been able to fatten old cows cheaply by feed- 

 ing roots and meal for six weeks before turning to grass. If 

 we look at the matter carefully, we shall see several reasons 

 why we may expect a large profit from this plan of manage- 

 ment. First, the grain feeding which I recommend gets the 

 animal into a thrifty condition so that no time is lost, but when 

 turned on pasture they begin at once to take on fat. Second, 

 this is the natural season of rapid growth for animals and 

 vegetables, all the conditions being favorable. The cold storms 

 of winter are past, and the oppressive heat of summer, with 

 its swarms of flies and other tormenting insects, has not come. 

 Water is pure, cold, and abundant, and the growth of the 

 grass is so rapid that the pastures will bear heavy stocking. I 

 think it safe to put double the number of cattle on a pasture, 



if they are to be taken off in June, that should be turned on it 



51 



