﻿30 BULLETIN 25, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



pose. The oats were alwa} r s consumed. An Illinois shipper bedded 

 the cars deep with millet and filled the racks with choice alfalfa hay, 

 the cattle having' been fed all winter on clover and timothy hay. 



It seems quite reasonable in view of the foregoing that when a 

 change of feed is provided in the car racks it will be consumed. 

 Moreover it has been observed that cattle are more contented and 

 slightly less susceptible to excitement when they have been watered 

 and fed liberally. If this be true, then it is fair to presume that 

 when thus fortified for the journey the animals will experience the 

 transfer from the farm to the market with the least shrinkage and 

 arrive in the best physical condition possible under the conditions. 



WEIGHING WARM AND COOL. 



Throughout the feed-lots districts of the Middle West the rail- 

 roads have provided platform scales at their principal stations, and 

 it is a common practice among shippers to weigh their stock before 

 loading in the cars for market. Many shippers keep an accurate 

 account of the weights, and when the statement of the sale weights 

 at market reaches them they are able at once to ascertain the amount 

 of shrinkage experienced in the journey from point of origin to 

 destination. 



Some of the largest cattle raisers maintain platform scales on their 

 farms, which enable them to keep strict account of the progress their 

 animals are making during the feeding season. It was observed that 

 animals which had been subjected to frequent weighing were more 

 tractable and sustained less shrinkage in handling. Most of the 

 farmers who have platform, scales weigh their cattle just before start- 

 ing for the railroad station or before the last feed is given. All of- 

 the weights thus taken are when the cattle are cool. 



Where scales are provided it is the prevailing custom for cattle 

 destined for market to be weighed promptly on arrival at the rail- 

 road station yards. The reason why the animals are weighed 

 promptly on arrival is because it is more convenient for the shippers. 

 The arrangement of the pens is such that it is easier to weigh on 

 arrival and while the animals are warm than later on when they 

 have cooled. It should be kept in mind that when the weights are 

 taken on the farm previous to departure the cattle are cool, while the 

 weights at the station are taken when the animals are warm. In 

 this connection it is desired to call attention to the difference between 

 weights taken when the animals are cool and when they are warm. 



No extended investigation was made into the matter of how much 

 cattle shrink in cooling. From the experience of veteran shippers 

 it was learned that cattle weighing around 1,200 pounds would shrink 



