26 



GAINS MADE ON GRASS WITHOUT GRAIN. 



The gains secured on steers during the grazing season < 6 months > 

 without grain is, on an average, 301 Ibs. or approximately 50 pounds 

 per month. As pasture costs from 75 cents to $1.00 per month, it 

 will be seen that the cost of gains in summer on grass alone, amounts 

 to from 1^4 to 2 cents per pound. This question may be reduced to 

 a problem which confronts the cattle feeder as follows : a thin 

 stocker weighing 750 pounds in the spring when grazing season be- 

 gins, worth 5 cents per pound, with pasture at the ordinary price of 

 $1.00 per month, and having made a gain of 300 pounds, can be sold 

 in the fall at $4.15 per hundred without either gain or loss in the 

 transaction. This largely accounts for the fact that feeders can be 

 bought cheaper in the fall than in the following spring. 



PREPARATION OF CATTLE FOR SHIPMENT. 



In regard to the treatment of cattle before shipment, 52 per 

 cent of the answers indicate that no special treatment whatever is 

 given to steers the day before shipment. Of the remainder, the great 

 majority use timothy hay and reduce the grain feed. Twelve per 

 cent place the steers in a dry lot before shipment. It is generally 

 'agreed among careful feeders that cattle should be taken off corn 

 the day before loading and given all the hay they will eat, preferably 

 timothy, with a good feed of oats amounting approximately to 5 Ibs. 

 per head. They should be allowed water until the morning when 

 they are driven to the pens. Special attention should be given to 

 start early, in order that they may be driven slowly. This method 

 will insure a minimum shrink between feed lot and shipping station, 

 while an excessive amount of feed and water, together with rapid 

 moving of fat cattle, is certain to cause scouring and excessive 

 shrinkage. Proper treatment before shipping insures cattle arriv- 

 ing on the market in a dry condition which is of great importance 

 to the shipper as they will not only take on a reasonable fill, but be 

 much more attractive to the buyer. One very interesting feature 

 of the answers to this question is that the cattle feeder is thoroughly 

 convinced of the fact that an excessive fill on the market is detri- 

 mental rather than beneficial as buyers refuse to bid on such cattle 

 until late in the day when they have lost most of it. It was found 

 that 85 per cent of the men who ship their cattle, either accompany 

 them to market or arrange to be on the market the day the cattle 

 are sold. This shows that the man who ships cattle appreciates the 

 value of being on the market at the time they .sell in order that he 

 mav not onlv understand the factors that enter into the selling price 



