V. SUMMARY OF THE FOUR YEARS' SUMMER 

 FATTENING EXPERIMENTS. 



The more important data of the four years' summer fattening work 

 are shown in condensed form b}' Table 11. Tliis permits a direct 

 comparison to be made of the results from the different methods 

 used. 



Comparing the averages of the three methods of fattening the 

 steers, it will be noted that there was little difference in the average 

 length of feeding and pasture periods. The average daily gains 

 per head, which may be considered the most A^aluable standard in 

 judging the efficiency of rations, were 1.49 poui^ds for the steers 

 getting pasture only, 1.83 pounds for the steers getting cottonseed 

 cake with pasture, and 1.53 pounds for those whose pastures were 

 supplemented with the mixture of cake and corn chop. 



The initial cost of the steers per 100 pounds of the three groups 

 was the same for any one year, but in each case the steers of group I 

 (jDasture alone) sold for a lower price. The margins realized be- 

 tween the buying and selling prices of the cattle were always in 

 favor of those which were fed supplements with their pastures. The 

 margins averaged 24| cents a hundredweight for the steers of group I, 

 90 cents for group II, and 81^ cents for group III, 



While the data on the dressing per cent are not complete, inspec- 

 tion of the results given will show that the steers which were fed 

 cottonseed cake or a mixture of cake and corn with pasture dressed 

 out higher than the cattle which had pasture alone. 



The steers of group I, which had pasture only, returned an average 

 profit of $5.78 a head, against $6.23 for the cake-fed steers, and $6.48 

 for those on cake and corn. The average profit made on the cake- 

 fed steers is adversely affected by the small loss on the lot fed in 

 1916. This poor result was caused by a combination of unfortunate 

 conditions and the use of scrub steers. 



Table 11. — Summary of four years' summer fattening work. 



Group, ration, and j-ear. 



Num- 



•ber 



of 



steers. 



Days 

 fed. 



Aver- 



aee 

 total 

 gain 

 per 

 head. 



Aver- 



ajre 

 dail}' 

 gain 



per 

 head. 



Cost of 



feed 



per 100 



pounds 



gain. 



Cost of 



cattle 



per 100 



pounds. 



Selling 



price 



per 100 



pounds. 



Margin 

 per 100 

 pounds. 



Dress- 

 ing 

 per 



cent. 



Aver- 

 age 



profit 

 per 



head. 



I. Pasture alone: 

 1912. . 



29 

 26 

 20 

 30 



112 

 147 

 107 

 134 



Lis. 

 117 

 240 

 180 

 214 



Lbs. 

 1.04 

 1.63 

 1.68 

 1.60 



SI. 71 

 1.09 

 1.06 

 1.12 



$3,87 

 5.25 

 5.00 

 5.50 



$4.00 

 5.00 

 6.75 

 5.85 



$0.13 



1.25 



.75 



.35 



Perct. 



48.68 



'5i."i7' 



$3.47 



1913 



6.60 



1915 



7.19 



1916 



5.88 







Average 





125 



188 



1.49 



1.25 



4.90 



5.15 



.245 



49.92 



5.78 











1 A loss. 



21 



