ADVANTAGES OF SUMMER OVER WINTER FEEDING. 



The advantages of summer over winter feeding may be 

 very briefly summarized as follows: 



First. Gains made in summer require less grain. 



Second. The gains are made more rapidly, so that the an- 

 imal is finished in less time. 



Third. Steers may be made thick and prime on corn and 

 grass in summer without the use of expensive supplementary 

 feeds like cottonseed meal or linseed meal, and will carry to 

 market a lustrous coat. .It is impossible by the use of corn and 

 such roughage as timothy or prairie hay to bring animals within 

 a reasonable time to anything like the degree of fatness that 

 may be easily made with corn and grass, and they will never 

 carry the bloom that is put on by full feeding at pasture. Pre- 

 sumably the green grass contains sufficient protein to give the 

 high finish and excellent coat required of animals that bring a 

 high price. To approximate this finish in winter feeding re- 

 quires the use of a considerable quantity of expensive grain 

 like cotton seed meal or linseed meal, or the use of clover, cow- 

 pea or alfalfa hay for roughage. 



Fourth. The hog makes larger gains and shows a very 

 much lower death rate in summer than in winter feeding. 



Fifth. There is a considerable saving in labor in summer 

 feeding over winter feeding, in view of the fact that only the 

 grain has to be hauled, and in view of the further fact that as a 

 rule the steers need to be fed but once a day either about 

 sunrise or near sunset. To offset this, however, labor on the 

 average farm is scarce and much higher priced in summer than 

 in winter. The manure is scattered by the cattle themselves, 

 and the hauling of it out upon the ground is dispensed with. 

 Grass is cheaper than hay, as has already been pointed out, and 

 makes better gains. The handling of the roughage is likewise 

 disposed of. 



