30 BULLETIN 628, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



profit was $22.36 per head. Allowing a credit of $4 per steer for 

 the manure during the winter, the profit was $26.36 per head. This 

 proved to be one of the most favorable and satisfactory methods of 

 handling cattle during both winter and summer. 



The winter-grazed cattle cost the least per head, both winter and 

 summer, this being $10.80, or $1.26 less per head than the steers in 

 Lot 3, which made the next most economical showing and whose total 

 profit was $21.77 per head. 



The results of three years' work show that steers which have been 

 fed silage heavily during the winter, make practically as good gains 

 the following summer on pasture as steers wintered solely on dry 

 feeds. The total average gain of the silage-wintered steers from fall 

 to fall was 319 pounds, while the dry-fed steers made a total average 

 gain of 329 pounds per head. Considering that the dry-fed cattle 

 were somewhat the better in quality, there is not enough difference 

 in the gains to show that silage-wintered cattle do not thrive well the 

 following summer. 



The results show conclusively the value of winter pasture when 

 combined with summer pasture. The total average gain from fall to 

 fall on these cattle was 350 pounds, which was made at a cost of 

 $0,031 per pound. The winter-grazed cattle did well on summer 

 grass and on the average were better cattle when finished in the fall 

 than those wintered in the barns. 



The next most economical showing was made by the cattle wintered 

 on silage, stover, and hay, followed by grass in summer. The aver- 

 age cost per pound gain was $0,039 for the total gain made from 

 fall to fall. This shows the value of silage in wintering stocker 

 cattle. 



The dry-wintered cattle which were finished on grass alone the 

 next summer made an average gain of 344 pounds per steer at an 

 average cost of $0,048 per pound, which was practically 1 cent per 

 pound more for the total gains made than the silage- wintered cattle. 



The cattle wintered on silage, corn stover, and hay and finished 

 on grass and cake made an average total gain from fall to fall of 

 328 pounds at a cost of $0,065 per pound, whereas the cattle wintered 

 on the same ration but finished on grass alone made their gains at a 

 cost of $0,038 per pound. This shows that the silage and grass com- 

 bination during winter and summer, respectively, is the more satis- 

 factory, considering the cost of the gains. 



The steers wintered on a dr}- ration of ear corn, corn stover, and hay 

 and finished during the summer on grass and cottonseed cake made 

 a total gain of 314 pounds from fall to fall at an average cost of 

 $0,074 per pound. This was the most expensive gain produced. It 

 is interesting to note in this connection that this is the common 



