III. FATTENING STEERS ON SUMMER PASTURE, 

 MISSISSIPPI, 1915. 



The cooperative experiments in fattening cattle on pastures in the 

 South were discontinued in Alabama after the test of 1913 and trans- 

 ferred to Mississipj)i, where the work was continued in cooperation 

 with the Mississippi Experiment Station. The present experiment 

 was conducted on the farm of Ben Walker at Abbott, Clay County, 

 Miss., who furnished the cattle, feeds, and pastures. 



The soil and pasture grasses are very similar to those of Sumter 

 County, Ala., where the previous work was conducted. Clay County, 

 Miss., is in the so-called black-prairie section, the soils of which 

 carry a good supply of lime, and produce alfalfa, clovers, grasses, 

 and forage crops in abundance. The land, however, is less rolling 

 than that in Sumter County, Ala. N". F. Hansen was employed by 

 the bureau to take personal charge of the cattle in the experiments 

 and to keep'records of the work. 



OBJECTS AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 



The objects of this test were to obtain additional information and 

 data concerning the fattening of steers on summer pasture in the 

 South. The same general plan was followed as in the Alabama ex- 

 periments. The steers were placed on pasture in the spring and fat- 

 tened for early fall market. Owing to the high price of corn at 

 Abbott in the spring of 1915 only two lots were used. 



Forty steers were divided into 2 lots of 20 each and fed as follows : 

 Lot 1, 20 steers, pasture alone; lot 2, 20 steers, pasture and cotton- 

 seed cake. 



DESCRIPTION OF CATTLE USED. 



The 40 steers in this experiment were ordinary natives of mixed 

 and inferior breeding. Jersey blood predominated in all but a few, 

 which showed evidences of Angus and Shorthorn blood. They had 

 been wintered on cottonseed meal, cottonseed hulls, and corn silage, 

 and were in good condition when the experiment began, averaging 

 678 pounds. 



CHARACTER AND PRICES OF FEEDS USED. 



The cottonseed cake which was fed to the steers of lot 2 was of 

 high quality, analyzing 43 per cent crude protein, and cost $29.60 a 

 ton delivered at the farm. 



The pastures were practically equal in size and in the area of 

 grazing furnished for each lot. The grasses making up these pas- 

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