806 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



around the feed pens soon accumulate so as to keep the cattle 

 out of the mud and also save the manure, which I find in fine 

 condition for the land the next fall. I do not furnish shelter, 

 except straw stacks. I stack my wheat and rye straw in the 

 feed lots so as to afford good wind-breaks and a dry, clean 

 place for the cattle to lie. I do not feed hogs and cattle in 

 separate lots, alternating them, as is the practice of many feeders, 

 but make my feed pens high enough to keep the hogs out, and 

 let hogs and cattle run together. I have a separate lot for the 

 hogs to sleep in, as the cattle are likely to tramp them and in- 

 jure them in cold weather when they burrow under the straw. 



"In summer when the cattle are on pasture I feed ear corn. 

 I break the large ears into three pieces, as there is less waste 

 than if fed whole. The cattle when on grass usually shell off 

 the corn and reject the cob, and I am of the opinion that it 

 would be better to feed shelled corn. 



" For a late spring or early summer market I begin feeding 

 from the first of February to the first of March, depending on 

 the weather and the condition of the cattle and the stalk pastures, 

 as I do not want the cattle to lose any flesh. 



"I have in exceptional cases made a gain of one hundred 

 pounds per month per head on a bunch of steers, but I consider 

 two and a half pounds a day in winter and three pounds in 

 summer very satisfactory. The spring of the year generally 

 gives us the highest prices for beef, but it costs more to fatten 

 for a spring than a summer or fall market, and the best time to 

 sell cattle may be said to be when they are ripe. 



" Cattle that have been on full feed will usually fall off in 

 flesh when turned to grass without corn, and even if fed corn 

 they make but little gain if any for two weeks. If the feeder 

 does not expect to hold his cattle six weeks or two months 

 after grass comes, he will do better not to turn them to grass 

 at all. 



" The value of the corn for hogs after it has passed through 

 the cattle varies greatly. If the corn is sound and hard, and 

 fed in good, dry lots I think it equal to fifty per cent of the 

 first cost, but when light, chaffy, soft corn is fed it is worth 



