CARRYING CATTLE THROUGH THE WINTER 235 



animals until grazing is abundant, if they are not suf- 

 ficient to prevent loss of flesh, the financial loss is pro- 

 portionately serious, since some time must elapse after 

 grazing begins before what was lost has been restored. 

 Short supplies usually follow dry seasons, hence, when 

 it is desired to keep the farm stocked to its full capacity, 

 should such seasons occur, the needed additional food 

 supplies should be purchased in the autumn. Where 

 these cannot be obtained without excessive cost, the 

 herd should be so reduced by sale that its needs will not 

 be in excess of the food stores that are available. The 

 great advantage from purchasing supplementary foods in 

 the autumn lies in the fact that, in nearly all instances, 

 they can be purchased much more cheaply at that sea- 

 son than in the winter or spring following. 



Under semi-range conditions losses from a short- 

 age of food occur more frequently than under farm con- 

 ditions. This arises from the more or less dependence 

 on winter grazing in the former. Because of this re- 

 liance the supplies of food laid up are not enough to 

 carry the animals through the entire winter, should its 

 rigors be such as to preclude the possibility of supple- 

 mental winter grazing. Such an occurrence brings great 

 loss to the owners of cattle, and the only way to make 

 sure that it will not occur on the arable farm is to have 

 a sufficiency of food on hand to carry the animals 

 through the entire winter. Should there be a surplus 

 of food, especially in the form of hay or straw, it may 

 be used the following winter. 



A shortage in food supplies for winter usually 

 results from dry seasons or from winter weather of 

 unusual length, but it may also result from weather 

 excessively wet and from injudicious overstocking. The 

 coming of dry seasons cannot be forecast, hence the 

 wisdom, especially where such seasons are of frequent 

 occurrence, of growing relatively large areas of crops 

 that may be cultivated, as corn, since the cultivation 



