40 



THE SEASON AS IT AFFECTS SUMMER FEEDING. 



The weather in summer is not likely to be so variable as in 

 winter, although its combined influence upon vegetation and di- 

 rectly upon the cattle themselves is sufficient to affect very ma- 

 terially the results. 



This influence, however, is chiefly upon the vegetation, 

 which immediately affects the animal that is feeding upon it. 

 Taking the extremes of rainfall for an example. In an exces- 

 sively wet summer the grass is rank, coarse and washy. Usu- 

 ally this grass is very palatable, which encourages the animal 

 to make a disproportion of its daily ration of grass rather than 

 of grain. The grass is furthermore washy, tending constantly 

 to scour the animals, so that the grain and grass they eat have 

 less than a normal nutritive value. Later in the season, if the 

 rains continue the covering of grass on the ground in good 

 pastures becomes so dense and thick as to be attacked by a white 

 mold, and becomes, in the parlance of the feeder, "funky." 

 Then the animals eat very little of it, and what they do eat has 

 apparently little nutritive value. Moreover, it is in such a sea- 

 son as this that such pests as the horn fly are most numerous 

 and most injurious. It is at the close of such a feeding season 

 as this that cattle shrink badly in shipping and reach the market 

 in a soft, unfinished condition, after having made unsatisfactory 

 gains. 



The other extreme is the dry season, when the growth of 

 grass is very much restricted, and when only sufficient rain 

 occurs to keep it from becoming covered with dust and to main- 

 tain, except in July and August, a moderate growth, and when 

 during July and August the grass cures on the pasture and 

 is not injured by rain after being cured. Under these circum- 

 stances the grass is very nutritious, has no tendency whatever 

 to scour the animals, and is not so palatable that they will eat 

 a disproportionate amount of it and thus neglect their grain. 

 In our experience, in such seasons the amount of grain con- 

 sumed has been very much larger than in wet seasons with suc- 

 culent grass, and the rate of gain has been materially higher. 

 Not only so, but the flesh laid on is hard, which means that it 



