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



farm to the station. None of tlie shipments traveled over bare 

 roads. The condition ranged from soft slushy snow to snow 3 

 feet deep, badly drifted, and covered with a hard frozen crust. 

 This sort of footing coupled with a stiff, keen, cutting wind made 

 travel slow and laborious. 



But 9 of the shipments were cool at the time of weighing. The 

 29 that were weighed while warm indicate the prevailing custom to 

 weigh as soon as the cattle reach the scales at the station. It is a 

 fact quite well known that cattle shrink while cooling. Just how 

 much this shrinkage is could not be accurately established owing 

 to lack of facilities and limited time. However, a few instances 

 where weights were taken before and after the cattle had cooled 

 showed from 15 to 20 pounds shrinkage in steers weighing 1,200 

 pounds. 



The average time the different shipments in the table were on full 

 feed was 100 days. The feed in nearly every instance was corn, 

 hay, and oil meal. Considerable rough feed, such as stalks and 

 straw, was fed. The hay was generally clover or timothy. There 

 was also some alfalfa meal fed. In only 3 shipments was there any 

 stock feed fed. 



Twenty-one of the shipments arrived at market during the night 

 or early morning before daylight, the remaining 17 shipments 

 reached their destination between daylight and noon. 



Owing to the scarcity of scales on the farms, there was but little 

 opportunity to secure the shrinkage of the cattle in traveling from 

 the farm to the station. In only two instances was this shrinkage 

 secured. One shipment of 3-year-old native steers driven 10 miles 

 through soft snow, not fed before starting and weighed cool on the 

 farm and warm at the station, shrank 19 pounds per head from farm 

 to station. This lot had been on full feed for 125 days. Another lot 

 of 3-year-old native steers that had been on full feed for 90 days, 

 trailed 5 miles through 30 inches of snow in a zero temperature, 

 weighed cool on the farm before starting and warm at the station, 

 shrank 21 pounds each from the farm to the station. 



The data in the table include a number of typical instances of the 

 effect of extreme weather conditions on the shrinkage of cattle in 

 transit to market. This is particularly noticeable in the case of the 

 six shipments from West Side, Iowa, where the animals were driven 

 distances varying from 3 to 7 miles through deep snow when the 

 temperature was reported 30 degrees below zero. On some of the 

 roads the snow was badly drifted, so much so that in one case the 

 animals became stalled frequently and experienced much difficulty 

 in extricating themselves. The cattle in these 6 shipments averaged 

 1,270 pounds per head at the shipping station, 1,169 pounds on arrival 



