66 Western Live-stock Management 



based on the use of hay alone, without the addition of any 

 other feed, such as straw, stubble fields, or grass. On this 

 basis one ton of hay would maintain the animal for just 

 about 120 days, or four months. When there is other 

 feed to supplement the hay, or when it is not necessary to 

 feed as long as 120 days, somewhat less than one ton of 

 hay may be used. On the other hand, if it is necessary to 

 maintain the cattle on hay alone for longer than four 

 months, or when it is desired to make some gain in weight, 

 more than this amount of feed will be needed. The 

 amount of hay which can profitably be used for wintering 

 cattle will always be subject to question, since it varies 

 with so many other factors, especially with the price of 

 cattle. With cattle worth 7 or 8 cents a pound and hay 

 $5.00 a ton in the stack, it is hard to feed too much, but 

 with hay at $6.00 or $7.00 and cattle worth 4 or 5 

 cents it is a different proposition, and beef production 

 under such prices is possible only by the most rigid 

 economy and hay can hardly be cheap enough to justify 

 its unlimited use with low-priced beef. The kind of 

 hay used will on most ranches be the kind available. 

 When cattle are wintered in the larger irrigated valleys 

 some selection is possible, in which case alfalfa practi- 

 cally always proves the best feed and can be bought at 

 the lowest price. Plenty of good alfalfa produces a 

 quality of cattle that can hardly be duplicated without 

 this feed. In many range districts, however, it is a 

 problem to procure hay of any kind. On the marshy 

 sinks such as are found throughout the Great Basin 

 region, wild hays are grown. These range from timothy 

 or clover to tules, with a corresponding variation in 

 feeding value. In the high dry parts of the country 

 farther north, rye is about all that can be grown and this 



