WINTERING BEEF BREEDING COWS 



Selection of rations on which beef cattle may be successfully 

 maintained during the winter at a comparatively low cost is one 

 of the most important problems before live stock producers. In the 

 past, the feeders of beef cattle have depended upon shipping cattle 

 from western markets for finishing o"n eastern grown feeds, as two- 

 year-old steers could be purchased for less than the cost of pjoduc- 

 ing them locally. The large ranges of the west are being divided 

 into smaller farms and their supply of cattle is diminishing while 

 the demand is continually increasing. The result of this will be 



Figure 4- Group of Angus cows used in silage experiment. Photograph 

 taken at close of feeding period. 



the production of feeding cattle on lands that are especially adapted 

 to the business, capable of producing grass in abundance, well sup- 

 plied with water and shade and of such topography or distance 

 from markets that they cannot profitably be utilized for the con- 

 tinuous production of cereal crops. 



There are large areas in almost every section of Pennsylvania, 

 which, although too steep to plow, are especially adapted to the 

 growth of pasture grasses and in every way favorable to the pro- 

 duction of beef. In many of the counties w.here timber has been 

 cut off, the hillsides might as well be producing grass as brush and 

 weeds. The problem after the pastures have been established is 



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