18 



BULLETIN 



U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



pounds in the spring, after they have been charged with the pur- 

 chase price in the fall plus the cost of pasture to carry them through 

 the winter, should be of great interest to farmers and stock raisers. 

 This is the deciding factor as to whether it will be cheaper to pur- 

 chase cattle in the fall or in the spring for grazing the following 

 summer. 



Table 7. — Cost of ivintering ; fall and spring prices. 



Year. 



Number 

 of steers. 



Pounds 

 gain per 

 steer for 

 winter. 



Initial 



cost 



per cwt. 



Cost to 

 winter 

 pasture. 



Cost in 



spring 



per cwt. 



Advance 



in spring 



over initial 



cost per 



cwt. 



1913-14 



17 

 26 



16 



17 

 17 

 26 



84.50 

 6.00 

 6.00 



S4.66 

 6.29 

 5.23 



$5. 23 

 6.70 

 6.60 



i $0. 73 



1914-15 



i .70 



1915-16 



i .60 







i Average, SO. 68. 



Table 7 shows that there was no great difference in the cost of win- 

 tering these cattle during the three years' work. The cattle used the 

 first year were smaller and it did not cost as much per head to winter 

 them, yet the advance in cost per 100 pounds in the spring over the 

 cost in the fall was more than in the following two years' work. The 

 average advance in cost in the spring over that in the fall was 68 

 cents per hundred pounds, whereas in all the winter cattle work in 

 the barns, as shown in Part I of this bulletin, there was an advance 

 in cost of from $1.40 to $1.70, or an average of $1.55 per hundred 

 pounds. This shows clearly the economy of providing winter pasture. 



SUMMARY OF THREE YEARS' WINTER PASTURE WORK. 



The steers during the winter of 1913-14 made a total gain of 17 

 pounds per head at an average cost of $4.66. The next winter the 

 average gain was the same, but the cost per steer was $6.29. During 

 1915-16 the steers made the largest gains of any in the three years' 

 work, namely, 26 pounds per head, at a cost of $6.60. In this third 

 winter the advance in cost per 100 pounds in the spring over the cost 

 in the fall was $0.60. The average for the three years was $0.68. 



CONCLUSIONS FROM WINTER-GRAZING WORK. 



Much of the rough mountainous land in western North Carolina 

 should be utilized for winter-grazing purposes. It is practically 

 unfit for any other purpose after the merchantable timber is cut. 

 Winter grazing and the use of the silo will enable stockmen of the 

 mountains to handle more cattle to better advantages through both 

 summer and winter than by the old method of wintering on dry- 

 harvested feeds. 



