374 Feeds and Feeding. 



According to Mumford the manure produced by steers during the 

 6 months' feeding ranges from 3 to 4 tons, worth, on many farms, 

 from $9.00 to $18.00 per steer. These factors should be considered 

 in counting the cost and returns of fattening steers. 



586. Preparing for shipment. — Clay,^ than whom there is no bet- 

 ter authority, writes : "A day or two previous to shipping, feed the 

 cattle in a pen, and feed hay only. The secret of shipping all classes 

 of cattle is to place them on the cars full of food but with as little 

 moisture as possible. A steer full of water is apt to have loose bow- 

 els and show up badly in the yards; properly handled cattle should 

 arrive in the sale pens dry behind and ready for a good fill of water; 

 not very thirsty but in good condition to drink freely. Many ship- 

 pers think that by salting their cattle or feeding them oats they can 

 fool the buyers, but it always goes against them to use unnatural 

 amounts. As to feed on the road, nothing equals good sweet hay, 

 which excels corn or other grains because it is easily digested and 

 does not fever the animal. Of water in mid-summer, care must be 

 taken to supply the animal wants, whereas in winter a steer can go 

 for many hours without a drink. Cattle should arrive at the sale 

 yards at from 5 to 8 A. ]\I., appearing on the scene as near the latter 

 ho.ur as possible, since they always look better just after they have 

 been fed and watered." 



587. Shrinkage. — Mumford- reports that 130 choice feeding steers, 

 averaging 1,006 lbs. each when shipped from the Chicago Stockyards 

 to Champaign, 111., 128 miles, shrank on the average 53.3 lbs. These 

 steers were fed for 6 months and gained 480 lbs. each on the aver- 

 age; when shipped back to the Chicago Stockyards they showed an 

 average shrink of 22.5 lbs. 



Carmichael of the Ohio Station,^ on shipping steers from Wooster, 

 Ohio, to Pittsburg, Penn., about 150 miles, found a shrinkage the 

 second day of 3.5 per ct. for silage-fed and 4.9 per ct. for dry-fed 

 steers. 



Kennedy and Marshall of the Iowa Station,"* shipping 1300-lb. steers 

 which had been about 90 days in the feed lot, from western Iowa to 

 the Chicago Stockyards, found a shrinkage of about 60 lbs. per head 

 for those fed corn and hay, and 90 lbs. for those fed corn on grass. 



587a. Production cost of beef. — With the close of the nineteenth 

 century America witnessed the passing of the range steer as a prime 

 factor in the low cost of beef production which had down to that time 



> Live Stock Eeport, Chicago, Sept. 28, 1894. = Bui. 198. 



2 Beef Production, VV- 30-1. * Bui. 66. 



