CATTLE GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 805 



"I am feeding sixty-eight head of steers this year and have 

 just weighed for the first time since we turned to grass, and 

 find that we have the largest gain we have ever made in the 

 same time. May 5th, the lot averaged 999 pounds ; June 1st, 

 1,136, making a gain of over five pounds each per day." 



Mr. Deal's figures would be more satisfactory if he had 

 made a full statement of each year's feeding instead of merely 

 giving results, but it seems to me they are sufficient to show 

 that he has found out how to feed cattle at a profit, for during a 

 series of years, including both high and low prices of corn and 

 cattle, he has made a large and uniform profit. His report also, 

 as far as it gives weights, shows that the greatest gains were 

 in the early part of the season. 



Knowing that "in the multitude of counselors there is 

 safety," and that farmers are always glad to read a record 

 of practical experience, I wrote to Mr. A. Jarrett, of McLean 

 County, Illinois, whom I knew to be a successful cattle-feeder, 

 and a man whose statements could be relied on, and in reply to 

 my questions received from him the following : 



" I have fed cattle of different ages one, two, and three 

 years old. I prefer three-year old steers that will weigh about 

 twelve hundred pounds each, as they fatten faster than younger 

 cattle, but large, thrifty, two-year olds will do very well. If 

 wanted for the spring market, I buy in the fall and let them 

 run on stalk pastures as long as I can to keep up their flesh, 

 then feed lightly till the first of March, by which time I get 

 them on full feed. The length of time I feed depends greatly 

 on the market. I sometimes start intending to feed only three 

 months and feed five. In winter I feed shock corn once a day. 

 I think they do better on it than on husked corn, as it does not 

 dry out and get so hard, and the cattle waste less when fed in 

 this way than when husked. I consider corn-fodder a better 

 rough feed for cattle than hay. I feed shock corn in what are called 

 feed pens, made of poles fourteen or sixteen feet long, and five 

 feet wide, with a tight floor eighteen inches below the top. 

 This is much better than feeding on the ground, as it prevents 

 tramping and wasting the corn, and the stalks thrown out 



