FATTEXIXG OF STEERS IN NOETH CAEOLIXA. 3 



On account of the relatively small area of land which can be 

 cultivated profitably, the chief problem with most of the cattlemen in 

 this section, as in other range sections, is to keep as many cattle 

 through the winter as can be grazed during the summer. The men 

 who have good pastures suitable for fattening a carload or more of 

 steers nearly always buy their stockers in the fall. They buy part of 

 them from men who keep a large herd of cows to raise stockers, and 

 the rest from small farmers who keep from one to six cows. Nearly 

 all the cattle are roughed through the winter on very light rations. 

 Relatively few are fed on silage. It is expected that they will lose 

 weight rather heavily during the winter, but that they will put it 

 back very cheaply on grass the following summer. They are sold as 

 two-year-olds for feeding purposes, going principally to the blue-grass 

 region of the Virginias and the feed lots of Pennsylvania. 



OBJECTS AND PLAN OF THE WORK. 



This work was undertaken to determine the following: 



1. — The value of pastures in this section for wintering and finishing 

 cattle. 



2. — The effects of the different methods of wintering on the gains 

 made on grass the following summer. 



3. — A way by which stockmen can winter more cattle than is the 

 case at present. 



4. — The relative cost of various methods of keeping steers tlu-ough 

 the winter. 



The work was planned to cover a period of tlu^ee years to get 

 averages practically free from the effects of variations in seasons, feed, 

 pasture, and cattle. The feeds selected to determine the most 

 economical winter ration were: Mixed hay, corn silage, corn silage 

 with stover and straw, and winter pasture, that had not been 

 gi"azed the preceding summer. The methods tested as to their pos- 

 sibilities for carrying more cattle tlu*ough the winter were the use of 

 silage and winter pasture. The steers used were divided into four 

 lots for each of the first two years and five lots for the third year, 

 there being about a carload of cattle in each lot. The lots were as 

 nearly uniform in quality and condition as it was possible to make 

 them. At the close of each of the three winter periods the cattle 

 were carried tlirough the summer on grass. The steers were num- 

 bered the same as in the previous winter's work so that the records 

 of each lot of cattle could be followed from one fall vmtil the next fall. 

 As the steers were not given any other feed while they were on 

 summer pasture, all gains can be credited to the pasture on an 

 acreage basis. An outline of the work is given in Table 1. Changes 

 in this general outline made necessary b}^ the giving out of the supply 

 of the various roughages at various times before the end of the 

 winter periods are noted in Table -. 



