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BULLETIN 25, U. S, DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



the same for 100 clays previous to marketing, and the conditions dur- 

 ing shipment were the same. All were of about the same weight and 

 quality and were in transit practically the same time. For these 

 reasons the shrinkage would naturally be expected to be almost simi- 

 lar. The weather at market was without change during the first 

 three shipments, but the fourth shipment arrived in a raging bliz- 

 zard, one of the worst of the winter, and the cattle ate little and 

 drank none. Snow was deep, everything was frozen over, and a 

 biting wind was blowing. The results are clearly shown in the net 

 shrinkages. For the first three shipments the shrinkage was very 

 uniform, being 47, 52. and 49 pounds, respectively. Owing to the 

 blizzard, the shrinkage on the fourth shipment amounted to 73 

 pounds per head because of the failure to fill, or an increase of 24 

 pounds each in shrinkage over the first three lots. 



The two shipments from Oklahoma City were from the same feed 

 lot as were all of the steers shown in Table 7. They were about the 

 same in quality and degree of fatness but were smaller in size than 

 the ones shown in Table 7. so were shipped to the St. Louis market 

 instead of to Kansas City. These cattle are therefore directly com- 

 parable to those of Table 7. 



The shrinkage on the two shipments to St. Louis was 54 and 61 

 pounds, respectively, or an average shrinkage of 57 pounds for the 

 46| hours' journey. The average weight was 1,077 pounds. The 

 average shrinkage of the 680 head shipped to Kansas City was also 

 57 pounds each, but they were about 200 pounds heavier, and the 

 journey was of but 24 hours 1 duration. These figures clearly and 

 conclusively show that the greater part of the shrinkage on these 

 cattle occurred during the first 24 hours of the journey. 



The grand average of all consignments in Table 8 shows the average 

 time in transit to be 40 hours, the average weight to be 862 pounds, 

 and the net shrinkage to be 59 pounds per steer. 



Table 8. — Cottonseed-meal-fed cattle in transit over 3G hours. 











Aver- 













Aver- 



age 







Num- 





Time 

 in 



transit. 



age 



weight 



Aver- 





ber 



of 



Point of origin. 



weight 

 at 



at des- 

 tina- 



age 

 shrink- 



R emarks. 



head. 





point of 



tion 



age. 











origin. 



after 

 fill. 











Hours. 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Pounds. 





112 





36 



842 



795 



47 



Fed 120 days. Weather was fine. 

 Do. 



117 



do 



36 

 37 

 37 



813 

 849 

 806 



761 

 800 

 733 



52 

 49 

 73 



83 



do 



Fed 125 days. Weather was good. 

 Arrived at'market in a raging blizzard 



209 



do 















and would not fill. 



47 



Oklahoma City, Okla.. 



46 



1,034 



980 



54 



Had been on feed over 100 days. 



48 



do 



46 



1,120 



1,059 



61 



Cold disagreeable weather at market. 







Took a light fill. 















(Jrand average 



40 



862 



803 



59 





