39 



INFLUENCE OF WEATHER. 



A part of the superiority of summer over winter for fat- 

 tening cattle is due to the superiority of grass over cured hay as 

 a feed, but another part of it may be attributed to the more 

 uniform and steady climate of summer and to the absence of 

 the disturbance of the variable weather of winter. In other 

 words, the weather itself affects very materially the rate and 

 cost of gain of cattle. The ideal conditions in winter for cheap 

 and rapid gains are clear, cold, crisp weather. The conditions 

 most unfavorable are cloudy, wet, warm, foggy, muggy weather. 

 The injurious effects of this damp weather are three-fold : 



First, exerting a depressing influence upon the animal it- 

 self to such an extent that its appetite is greatly reduced. 



Second, the lots, despite any ordinary management, become 

 excessively muddy, thus keeping the animal on its feet instead 

 of making the conditions most favorable for it to lie down. 



Third, affecting the palatability of the feed. 



In the latitude of Missouri, the winter weather is quite 

 variable, and this is particularly true of the season from the 

 middle of February to the middle of April. It is particularly 

 costly to attempt to finish cattle in this season. Fairly rapid 

 and economical gains can be made in this variable weather on 

 thin cattle that have been freshly put on feed, but 'when the 

 steers approach the finishing period, when their appetites become 

 dainty, and when at best it is difficult to induce them to eat 

 enough to make substantial and economical gains, the disturb- 

 ance of the weather is particularly noticeable, and oftentimes 

 when cattle are almost finished they will stand for 30 and some- 

 times 60 days without making scarcely any gain at all. This is 

 quite likely to be true if the lots are muddy and if the roughness 

 is not particularly palatable and is fed in the open, where it is 

 drenched with rain Soon after it is put in the rack. 



The most favorable portion of the winter season for feed- 

 ing is in the late autumn and during December and January, 

 unless these months be wet or variable. 



Many of the most successful feeders do not finish their cat- 

 tle in these unfavorable parts of the winter, but utilize them for 

 getting the cattle started or "warmed up" as they express it. 



