10 BULLETIN 761, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
’ CATTLE USED. 
The steers used in the experiment were mostly grade Shorthorns, 
with a few Angus, Red Polls, and Herefords. The cattle were all 
natives, being raised in the county where fed, but as a whole were 
much better than the average of steers in Mississippi. . They ranged 
in age from 2 to 34 years. All were raised in the neighborhood of 
Abbott, Miss., and were free from ticks. . 
CHARACTER AND PRICES OF FEEDS USED. 
The cottonseed meal used in the experiment contained from 39 to 41 
per cent protem; the corn used was clean and sound. Most of the 
corn silage was very good; it kept well and showed considerable 
grain. The oat straw was bright and the steers ate it with relish. 
The following prices were paid for feeds: Cottonseed meal, $27 per 
ton; corn, 70 cents per bushel. The corn silage and oat straw were 
valued at $3 and $5 per ton, respectively. The cottonseed meal was 
purchased early in the fall and was then cheaper than it was later 
in the year. While corn could be bought on neighboring farms at 
about 50 cents per bushel early in the fall, it is charged at 70 cents, 
which was about the average market price in that section for the 
winter of 1915-16. 
METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE CATTLE. 
All the steers in each of the lots were numbered by means of a tag 
on aleather neck strap. They were weighed individually on Novem- 
ber 24, 25, and 26, respectively, and the average of these three 
weights used as the initial weight. After that the steers were 
weighed at the end of each 28-day period. The steers of each lot 
were well housed at all times and did not have the run of open lots 
- until after March 29, when they had the run of open lots both night 
and day. Each pen used previously to March 29 was 38 by 98 feet in 
size and each had troughs which were kept full of running water at 
all times. The steers were supplied with plenty of fresh water while 
in the open lots. 
Mixed shavings, cornstalks, and oat straw were used for bedding in 
all the lots during the first half of the feeding period. After that the 
roads became so bad that bedding could not be hauled and the pens 
became somewhat sloppy. The pens had been concreted around the 
watering troughs during the summer and they did not become so 
muddy as they did the previous year. 
The steers were given their feed at 7 in the morning and 3.30 in 
the afternoon. The cottonseed meal and corn were thoroughly 
mixed with the corn silage at each feeding and the feeds placed in 
stationary troughs. Rock salt was kept before the steers at all 
times. 
