FATTENING CATTLE IK ALABAMA, 15 



In 1910 the pastures were ready for grazing by April 7, but the 

 following year no material benefit could be derived from them until 

 April 21. These two dates, therefore, mark the inauguration of the 

 tests for the summers of 1910 and 1911. 



The pasture land was rolling, some of it being rather rough and 

 gullied, while the remainder was slightly rolling or almost level with 

 just enough slope to drain well. The soil of the pasture lands is of 

 three distinct classes — Houston clay, Orangeburg clay, and Waverly 

 loam. The hill or rough portions of the pastures are made up of the 

 Houston clay, which varies from almost white to brown in color, and 

 is usually termed " lime-hill prairie land." The soil is 4 to 8 inches 

 deep, underlain by 18 to 36 inches of grayish clay, which usually 

 rests upon lime rock that outcrops frequently. The Orangeburg clay 

 consists of 4 to 8 inches of reddish sandy loam, underlain by either 

 red clay or sandy clay subsoil. This soil is found on the slightly 

 rolling land between the hills and the creek. The Waverly loam is 

 found in level stretches near the creek and branches. It is the 

 deposition of the silt and clay from the flood waters of the streams, 

 and is fertile, though sometimes rather wet. There is considerable 

 lime in all of these soils, so melilotus and the other pasture plants 

 mentioned above grow readily. 



As this land is similar to that found throughout the prairie sections, 

 or " black belt," of Alabama and Mississippi, and the pasture plants 

 are the same throughout that region, the results secured from the 

 grazing experiments outlined in this part of the bulletin are strictly 

 applicable to all parts of that prairie region. 



METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING DURING THE SUMMER. 



The steers which received no feed in addition to the pasture 

 required very little care and attention. They were salted at regular 

 intervals and weighed every 28 days. This was about all the atten- 

 tion they required. 



The steers which received cottonseed cake in addition to the 

 pasture were fed once a day, and this was done about sundown, or 

 the cool part of the afternoon, so that all would come out to the feed 

 troughs. The feed was not thrown upon the ground, but placed in 

 feed troughs situated at convenient places in the pastures, and the 

 hay when fed at all was fed from hay racks. As the steers had been 

 dehorned the previous winter, each animal occupied not more than 

 3 feet at the trough. When cattle are thus fed in properly con- 

 structed hay racks and troughs practically no feed is wasted. A 

 good supply of water was afforded by creeks and artificial pools. 



During the summer of 1910 some difficulty was experienced in 

 getting the cattle dipped properly. The dip used for destroying the 

 cattle ticks was an emulsion of crude petroleum, but for some un- 



