BEEP CATTLE IX HOB.TH CAROLINA. 



fed the same ration each year. The plan was not to make the cattle 

 in the various lots gain in weight, but rather to winter them econom- 

 ically, using light rations even though they lost some weight during 

 the winter, the fattening to be done on grass the following summer. 

 With the amounts of feed used the steers were wintered as well if 

 not better than the average stock cattle are wintered in the mountains. 

 An outline of the work is given in Table 1 in order to present a 

 clear idea of the nature of the tests conducted. 



Table 1. — General plan of the three years' experiments. 



Lot 

 No. 



Average : - 

 number of 



steers per Winter feeding. 1 

 lot for the 1 



3 years. 



Summer feeding. 2 



1 



2 

 3 



24 Ear corn, corn stover, hay, and straw 3 



24 Corn silage, corn stover, hay, and straw 3 



33 1 do. 3 



One-half on grass, one-half on grass and 

 cottonseed cake. 

 Do. 



4 



19 1 Winter-grazed, feeding during snows 



1 



Do. 



1 From time cattle were taken off pasture in December until turned on pasture about Apr. 15. 



2 From time cattle went on grass in spring to about Sept. 1. 



3 Corn stover and hay were used the first winter. 



The cattle in Lot 1 were fed during the winter each year on ear 

 corn and a light ration of corn stover, hay, and straw. These cattle 

 were divided in the spring into Division A, finished on grass alone, 

 and Division B, fed on grass with a small ration of cottonseed cake 

 in addition. 



The cattle in Lot 2 were fed during the winter each year on corn 

 silage, corn stover, hay, and straw. In the spring the cattle were 

 divided and fed the same as Lot 1. 



The steers in Lot 3 were wintered the same as those in Lot 2. The 

 following summer they were all finished on grass. 



The steers in Lot 4 were wintered on pasture, getting no feed or 

 shelter except during snows, when they were brought to the barn and 

 fed a small ration of dry roughage or dry roughage and ear eorn 

 combined. The pasture on which these cattle were grazed and 

 finished is described on page 15. 



METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE STEERS. 



The steers in Lots 1, 2, and 3 were fed about 8 a. m. and 4 p. m. 

 The steers of Lots 2 and 3 were fed silage alone in the morning and 

 corn stover, hay, and straw in the afternoon. The steers in Lot 1 

 were given one-half of the corn stover, hay, and straw in the morning 

 and the other half in the afternoon. The ear corn was chopped and 

 given at one feed in the morning. 



The corn stover arid hay were mixed together in equal quantities 

 and run through a feed cutter before being fed. Where stover, hay, 

 and straw were used, these feeds were mixed, one-third each, and 



