SHRINKAGE OF WEIGHT OF BEEF CATTLE IN TRANSIT. 29 
equipped their cars for this purpose, it must be admitted they 
have expended considerable sums in an attempt to furnish practical 
watering facilities, but the quantity supplied is usually insufficient 
unless considerable time is consumed, and a long train of stock to be 
liberally watered would occasion delays that could not be permitted. 
Assuming that the watering of stock in transit is practically out 
of the question, it remains for the shipper to give his animals some 
water before loading them. Some shippers do not make a practice of 
doing this. They prefer to allow the thirst of the cattle to accumu- 
late in anticipation of an increased fill at market. However, this 
custom is beset with risks that can not be controlled, such as long 
delays in transit, encountering heavy rains on the way followed by 
cold or snow, unfavorable weather at market, and arriving after the 
market has opened or at a late hour at night. All of these are fac- 
tors that make the practice one of doubtful value, as it has been ob- 
served that in cases where these conditions obtain they tend to 
counteract the anticipated extra fill occasioned by the denial of 
water before loading. It appears to be the better plan to provide 
sufficient clean water and allow the cattle an opportunity to drink 
leisurely before loading them at the point of origin. Whether they 
shall be fed grain or hay before loading depends on how much and 
when they were last fed, the distance driven, the condition of the 
roads over which they traveled, and the weather. 
These conditions of course do not apply to animals from the 
range. They apply especially to cattle that have been in feed lots. 
It was observed that when a shipper fed the usual quantity at the 
last feeding time on the farm before starting for the station, and 
drove leisurely so as not to warm the animals unnecessarily, that 
when they had cooled off in the station yards a light feed of oats, 
shelled corn, or hay was usually eaten without hesitation. 
In agricultural districts where feed is plentiful it is the prevailing 
custom to fill the racks in the cars with hay, but in the range country 
this practice does not prevail to any extent on account of the scarcity 
of hay and the distance and inconvenience of getting it to the cars. 
In fact, on some roads it is not even permitted in the cars, because 
where certain kinds of soft coal are used in the engines there is too 
great a danger from flying sparks. 
Many experienced shippers of feed-lot cattle contend that if the 
cattle are fed before loading the placing of hay in the racks is un- 
necessary. This contention is based on individual judgment and is 
rot sustained by any array of facts. It was observed, however, that 
cattle do eat hay quite liberally,' especially if it is a change from what 
they have been accustomed to in the feed lot. One shipper in Iowa 
usually fills the racks with sheaf oats, which he has saved for this pur- 
