16 BULLETIN 1251, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Il. COST OF RATIONS FOR WINTERING 2-YEAR-OLD STEERS. 
Whether to purchase steers in the fall and carry them through the 
winter largely on roughage or to purchase them in the spring is a 
question which the thoughtful cattle grazier tries to answer. No 
matter what the answer may be on any particular farm or in any 
particular section of the country, the fact remains that cattle are 
generally higher in price and are worth more in the spring just before 
the grass season opens than they were at the close of “the pasture 
GAINS /N WEIGHT THE FIRST 54 LIXE ON PASTURE (Fouts) 
N N 8 N , S 
LN) a) N on 
\al eee os eens oeaos = 
(ye) BER ORR ERE WoC aS Be Uo. = 
S ee Et 2 
\ Fn cael se pea a a ees 
N ataia ictal EDR ROUEBRL SOBRE BeBe usc 
~ SSODRRESKER eon? Sonne 
‘yee BREE EEA ER EEACE PRESS SERSTEBES 
Nees 2B SEARS Soe eee eke 
x | | Tt TT TY Polo] Polen sloole | fed | TTT TTT | le 
NY BERR EREREROCE Doe eee eee ee 
BRRRERESDER DRESS oO AURA s 
VY sol LECT Tree t oceebeg el TT fee 
weeT TT TTT TTT TT leleded Telel TT TT TT TT |e 
> SRR Reece see ase Ce 
N BR REERERRERROSDRcEBSOEeUeh eee, 
\ SS ee fae eho eo eZ 
BSE Ee [eel (oleae eles lego: alice esha ates 
SSSI SY] a Ss [i ia a LS 
SE a iG FO | | a 
SERRE SERRE RERCES BEBE EeeeSeee 
Sap EE} tt} 
M50 a aa cn cf 
y Bee Ps TTR SES is [eS Le a 
Wy BREESE SEERA EEE Sea oeeoe. 
\ Ea a a i a FR 
NY Ht EL Ep eR 
Na a fa tH 
y GEGUREeSRCeG ecole. SSeeceed | 4 
iy Sot Et te} 
is ee oe eae See aelo oe 
= ii SA a Sa | 
NZ Danae HEE. 
SRA Pes ReneS eResSSORes 
2 Gi aGReneEeene COE ooo noCl 
DOs COLI ZBRMECMISMITITISFABESEFEEFZ2IOO (7 PF 
Fic. 9 a.—Showing the correlation between the winter losses and gains ana the gains for the first 54 days 
(average for three years) on pasture, based on the Ae steers. 
period the preceding fall. This increase in value is due to the cost 
of wintering and the demand for cattle to make use of grass in the 
spring. In the following discussion the various winter “rations are 
compared to determine which is the cheapest per day, and especially 
which produces a pound of gain most cheaply, w hen the cost of 
grazing and the gain on grass ‘are added to the cost of wintering and 
winter gain. For this purpose it is necessary to fix the prices for 
feeds on the farm. It is felt, however, that this is the most question- 
able and unsatisfactory part of such experimental work, especially 
for the last few years, during which unusual fluctuations have occurred 
infeed prices. On account “of these fluctuations, and also for sunplicity 
