4 



34 BULLETIN 110, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The daily gains per steer for the winter and summer combined were 

 but 0.79 of a pound per day for the steers in this group which subsisted 

 on range alone during the winter, while the average daily gains for 

 those which were fed during the winter were 1.24, 0.79, and 1.07 

 pounds, respectively. There is no doubt that steers which are to be 

 finished for the early summer market can be profitably wintered by 

 the use of supplementary feeds in conjunction with range. For such 

 steers the use of winter feeds is more economical than permitting 

 them to become thin in flesh by depending upon the open range for 

 their winter feed. The object is to get the steers fat early in the 

 season while prices are still high for fat cattle, and thin steers will not 

 become fat enough for slaughter purposes until late in the summer. 

 At that time prices are usually much lower because of the competition 

 of straight grass cattle. 



STEERS SUMMERED ON PASTURE, COTTONSEED CAKE, AND ALFALFA HAY. 



The steers of group G which were wintered on range alone lost 93 

 pounds per head, while those which were given meal and hulls during 

 the winter gained 39 pounds each. During the summer the thin 

 steers gained 267 pounds in weight while those which had increased in 

 weight during the winter gained 224 pounds during the pasture 

 season. When the total gains for the whole period of 7 months are 

 considered, the steers of lot 1 made a total gain of 174 pounds each 

 while those of lot 2 gained 263 pounds each, or the average daily gains 

 per steer for these periods were 0.81 and 1.26 pounds, respectively. 



A GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE FEEDING. 



The charts, figures 2, 3, and 4, present the results of the work in a 

 different way and bring out some important points in the feeding 

 more forcibly than can be done in tabular form. Each chart repre- 

 sents a year's work, portraying the results secured in the years 1907-8, 

 1908-9, and 1909-10, respectively. 



The heavy dotted horizontal line O represents the dividing line 

 between a gain in weight and a loss in weight. The heavy dotted 

 vertical line represents the dividing line between the winter and the 

 summer work. Each check horizontally represents a period of 20 

 days. Each check vertically represents a loss of 0.4 of a pound per 

 day in weight for each steer if below the heavy horizontal line, or a 

 gain in weight of 0.4 of a pound per steer per day if above the line. 



Each lot of steers fed during the whiter is represented by a line to 

 the left of the heavy vertical line. Each diagonal line to the right of 

 the vertical line represents one of the groups of steers which were fed 

 during the summer. In figure 2, therefore, the line O-l shows the 

 loss in weight made by each steer in lot 1 during the winter of 1907-8. 

 At the end of the winter test the steers of lot 1 were divided among 

 the groups A, B, and C to be finished on grass during the summer. 



