32 BULLEIIX 25, W. S. DEPAEIMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Inquiry was made of feeders in Iowa and Illinois as to whether 
salt was mixed in the silage with a view of creating an abnormal 
thirst that would reflect in the heavy nil at market, but all denied the 
use of salt, and further inquiry failed to locate a single instance where 
any attempt had been made to increase the natural thirst. 
It was also noted that the breed was not a factor in this respect. 
Cattle fattened on the range or in the feed lots, and those fattened on 
pulp and on silage were not infrequently of the same breed and pur- 
chased from the same sources of supply. The question of the breed 
did not enter prominently into the transaction, and while shippers 
have their preferences of the breed they like best to feed, the records 
of the shipments do not reflect any difference in the shrinkage in 
transit or the fill at market that can be charged to breed. 
DETAILS OF THE WOEK. 
MIXED RANGE CATTLE IN TRANSIT LESS THAN 36 HOURS. 
The shipments in Table 10 were all from that section of the coun- 
try known as the " Sand Hills," and consisted of western cattle that 
had been grazed and fattened in western Nebraska, There were 
866 animals altogether, and all went to South Omaha, In general, 
the shipment* were composed of cows, heifers, and steers varying 
in age from yearlings to 4-year-olds. Occasionally a shipment would 
have a few head of small calves. 
The cattle were trailed distances varying from 1 to 30 miles. 
They were weighed while warm, or immediately on arrival at the 
railway pens, and then turned into a dry lot. where they remained 
until loaded into the cars. 
"With but three exceptions the shipments were made under normal 
weather conditions. The three exceptions mentioned were periods 
when there was a high wind and a temperature approaching zero. 
The figures obtained, however, do not indicate that the unusual 
weather was much of a factor in the shrinkage. 
In the case of 23 head from Hyannis, Nebr., that refused to take 
a fill at market, an effort was made to get these animals to fill but 
without success, and they actually shrank about 184 pounds, or 8 
pounds per head, while at market, although the weather conditions 
were normal and they arrived at a favorable hour in the morning. 
The figures in Table 10 show considerable variation in the amount 
of fill obtained at market. There was but one shipment, above 
mentioned, that did not get a fill. The average fill for the 866 head 
was 28 pounds. The average shrinkage before the fill was 86 pounds 
and the average net shrinkage was 58 pounds. 
