STEER FEEDING EXPERIMENTS 25 



much cheaper than when considerable grain was fed during the 

 early part of the feeding period. This experiment was carried on 

 in line with the previous results obtained. 



Cattle. 



The cattle used in this trial were of mixed breeding with beef 

 blood predominating. They were purchased in Roane County, 

 West Virginia, and would have classed as fair feeders on the Pitts- 

 burgh market. Nearly all were two-year old cattle and averaged a 

 little less than nine hundred pounds per head at the time the feed- 

 ing trial was started. Thirty head were purchased, of which 

 twenty-four were used for the experiment. The cattle were equally 

 divided in so far as weight, quality, breed and type were concerned 

 with twelve head in each lot. 



Initial Cost of Cattle. 



The thirty head of cattle were purchased for $1600.00, plus the 

 freight charges of $64.00 from West Virginia to Lemont, Pennsyl- 

 vania, which is near one of the college farms. In addition to this, 

 a charge of $1.50 per head is allowed tp pay for a month's pasture 

 before they were put on the experiment. The thirty head of cattle 

 on November 15 weighed 26,897 pounds which made the actual cost 

 $6.28 per cwt. the day they were put on the experiment. 



Shelter, Feed Lots and Water Supply. 



These cattle were fed in an open shed enclosed on three sides 

 and open to the south. The covered part of the shed, 14x30 feet, 

 provides ample protection from rain and snow. An open pen, 25x 

 30 feet, joins the shed, permitting the cattle to take some exercise. 

 The open lots are cemented and have retaining walls which keep 

 them from getting muddy during wet weather, but require consid- 

 erable bedding to absorb the water. 



Open galvanized tanks filled with water were kept before the 

 cattle constantly. On account of the mild winter, little difficulty 

 was experienced from freezing of the water. 



Feeds and Method of Feeding. 



The steers in Lot I were fed all the corn silage they would con- 

 sume during the first two months of the feeding period. In addi- 

 tion to this they received three pounds of cottonseed meal per 1000 



