10 BULLETXX 25, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
abnormal fill. The skill of the feeder in such cases is shown by 
getting the increased weight from fill without giving the animals 
the appearance of being " stuffed." 
DETAILS OF THE WORK. 
There are many factors which affect the shrinkage in weight of 
cattle in transit and the fill at market. To obtain good average 
results it is necessary that a considerable number of shipments, as 
well as a large collection of animals should be used. These features 
were carried out with respect to the range cattle, but the results 
obtained, as shown in the tables which follow, were ascertained under 
various conditions on a dry or droughty year and should be con- 
sidered as such. A variation from the results shown here is to be 
expected in a normal year or in a year with an excessive amount of 
rainfall. The pastures of Texas from which the shipments were 
obtained had been abnormally dry. The data presented, therefore, 
must be considered as having been produced under conditions more 
favorable to a light shrinkage while in transit than might otherwise 
have been obtained under normal conditions. 
RANGE CALVES' IN TRANSIT LESS THAN 36 HOURS. 
The shipments shown in Table 1 were made up entirely of Texas 
range calves that were shipped to the Fort Worth market and were 
in transit less than 36 hours. The time in transit as shown in the 
table is the elapsed time between the weighing at the point of origin 
and at market. It will be observed that the average length of time 
in transit was 21 hours, and the grand average fill at market was 9 
pounds, while the grand average net shrinkage was really a gain in 
weight of 3 pounds. The total number of head was 859. 
Attention is called to the performance of two shipments included 
in this table. " One from Stanton, Tex., composed of 206 head had 
been on the road to the loading pens for three days and had been 
driven 16 hours a day. They looked absolutely empty and jaded 
when they were loaded and weighed at Stanton. The racks of the 
cars were filled with hay, and the calves weighed on the average 1 
pound heavier when they arrived at Fort Worth than when they 
started. They took a 13-pound fill there, giving them a net gain in 
weight of 14 pounds per head. The other shipment was of 6-t head 
from Big Spring, Tex. They were driven but 5 miles and looked 
well when loaded. They shrank 10 pounds each in transit and con- 
tinued losing weight until they were sold. They would not take a fill 
at market, and were 3 pounds lighter when they were sold than Avhen 
they arrived. Their net shrinkage, therefore, was 13 pounds per 
head. These two shipments were the extremes of the class, and the 
variation was not great for the other shipments. 
