IV. FATTENING STEERS ON SUMMER PASTURE, 

 MISSISSIPPI, 1916. 



The series of experiements in fattening steers on summer pasture 

 was continued in the summer of 1916 in cooperation with the Missis- 

 sippi Experiment Station on the Canton Stock Farm, near Canton, 

 Madison County, Miss. The stock, feed, pastures, and equipment 

 were furnished by the farm. The bureau placed S. S. Jerdan on the 

 farm to supervise the feeding of the cattle and keep records of the 

 test. 



OBJECTS AND PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT. 



The experiment had for its chief object a further study of the fat- 

 tening of steers on summer pasture, emphasizing especially the com- 

 parison of pasture alone and pasture supplemented with cottonseed 

 cake. The test was planned along the same lines as the previous ones. 



Corn was not to be had at reasonable prices, so only two lots of 30 

 steers each' were used, one lot getting pasture alone, the other cotton- 

 seed cake in addition to the pasture. 



CATTLE USED. 



The stock used in this test were inferior mature steers of nonde- 

 script breeding, weighing from 550 pounds to 1,000 pounds each 

 when the experiment began. Evidences of Jersey breeding were 

 most prominent, while a few showed marks of Shorthorn, Hereford, 

 Aberdeen- Angus, Eed Polled, and Devon breeding. As a whole they 

 were typical scrub steers of the South, and very few were good 

 feeders. All but 15, which were raised on the farm, had been bought 

 in Madison County early in May. They were divided into 2 lots of 

 30 each, as equally as possible in regard to size, condition, and quality. 

 Madison County is in tick-free territory, and as no ticks were on 

 the animals dipping was unnecessary. 



CHARACTER AND PRICES OF FEEDS USED. 



The cottonseed cake was of good quality, cracked to nut size, and 

 analysis showed about 39 per cent crude protein. The steers ate it 

 with relish. It cost $32 a ton in Canton, the cost of hauling it to 

 the farm not being added. 



The pastures were quite similar to those described in the work in 

 Sumter 'County, Ala., and at Abbott, Miss. This region is in what is 

 called the " brown-loam " classification, and the soil is very fertile, 

 producing a great variety of grasses and clovers. The principal 

 plants which furnished grazing were lespedeza, Paspalum, Bermuda 

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