1894.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 75 



Comments on the results of inquiry III. 



The above experiment with soiling in case of growing 

 steers is the first tried at the station. Another experiment 

 with three steers is under way, and will be reported later. 



It will be seen from the tal)le that : — 



1. The different steers gained from two to three times 

 as much in live weight per day when fed at home as when 

 pastured. 



2. The price paid for the pasture will in a measure 

 govern the profit and loss of the operation. 



3. The total cost of the feed required to produce one 

 pound of live weight was approximately the same in the 

 difierent experiments. In case of the three steers pastured 

 in 1891, the cost of feed per day, 6.36 cents, was loss than 

 in the case of the soiling experiment, being due to the low 

 price paid for the pasture. 



4. In case of soiling, the net cost of feed required to 

 produce one pound of live weight, 4 to 5 cents, proved to 

 be about one-half the total cost. In other words, the chief 

 gain seems to have been in the value of the manure produced. 



Disadvantages of Pasture. 



1. The uncertainty of the supply of food, being governed 

 (a) by the weather and (h) by the general poor condition 

 of the New England grazing lands. 



2. The loss of the manure. 



3. The loss of live weight, apparently unavoidably con- 

 nected with a system of changing from stall feeding to 

 pasturing and back again. This loss has generally amounted 

 to from 20 to 30 pounds of live weight per animal. 



4. The slowness of the gain in live weight as compared 

 with soiling. 



Advantages and Disadvantages of Soiling. 

 1. The experiment shows that nearly three times as 

 much gain in live weight per day has been produced by soil- 

 ing as by pasturing. 



