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



of this bulletin are used, care should be taken to look up the results 

 for shipments of cattle that were made under conditions similar to 

 the ones which are to be used for comparison. The results shown in 

 Part I are typical of a Aery droughty year in the Southwest, and 

 therefore could not be used in estimating the shrinkage of cattle 

 shipped from Texas during a good grazing season. The figures 

 shown in Part III should be used for such. Nor would thej^ be ap- 

 plicable for estimating a shrinkage on cattle in the Northwest. 



The range cattle of the Southwest principally came from Texas, 

 although there were some from Arizona and Mexico. From the 

 Northwest the range cattle came chiefly from the Dakotas, Montana, 

 Wyoming, and Nebraska. It is interesting to note that in the work 

 of the Northwest there is not a shipment of calves recorded, while 

 they were quite common in the Southwest. Texas has built up a 

 reputation for calves as feeders and stock cattle, while in the North- 

 west they are kept on the range until they are 2 to 4 years old. 

 The northwestern cattle are heavier, usually fatter and shrink more 

 per head in shipping than do Texas cattle, but when the length of the 

 journey to market is considered there is very little difference in the 

 shrinkage. 



When care is used in trailing the cattle to the loading pens, not 

 driving them too fast nor too far in a day and giving them five or 

 six hours a day to graze on the way, long distances may be covered 

 with no apparent injun^ to the cattle. On arrival at the pens it is 

 well to give the animals a light feed of hay with a little water, or 

 allow them to graze a short time before loading them, unless the grass 

 is very luxuriant. An excessive fill of water or green fodder or grass 

 just before loading is not good for the cattle, as it may cause them 

 to scour in transit ; then, too, they will not stand up as well in the 

 cars. The scouring may affect the intestinal tract to such an extent 

 that the cattle will not take a good fill at the market. 



All of the corn-fed cattle were finished during the winter or early 

 spring months. While none of them had to be driven long distances 

 to the loading pens, the roads were often in such bad condition because 

 of snow and ice as to make the trip laborious and hard on the cattle. 

 The cattle were usually fed and watered a short time before loading, 

 and many times hay was put in the racks of the cars. The treatment 

 they received in this respect was far better than that which was 

 accorded to the range cattle. There is no doubt that the feed given 

 the cattle before loading increased the shrinkage in transit, but that 

 docs not mean that it Avas not beneficial to the cattle and profitable 

 to the shipper, because the cattle would naturally look better for 

 having been handled this way. and they would sell at the market 

 at a price which would more than offset the increased shrinkage. 

 More care is always taken by the feeder than by the ranchman in 



