62 BULLETIN 25, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
on the different shipments varied greatly, ranging from 4 pounds to 
64 pounds per head. 
The first shipment of 25 cows was driven only 7 miles and was 
grazed before loading,, so they had a good fill. They were in transit 
28J hours but did not have a goo r d run. The result was that they 
shrank 64 pounds per head. The third shipment shrank but 4 pounds 
each. The fourth shipment of 80 head of cows was in transit 31 
hours. These cattle had a very slow run, but still shrank only 6 
pounds each. They evidently took a big fill at the market. 
The shipment of 291 head of cows was driven 110 miles from the 
ranch to the railroad. They were on the road seven days, being- 
trailed about 16 miles a day and grazed. However, the trip was a 
hard one because of its great length. The cattle were grazed the 
day before shipping but had neither feed nor water the day they 
were shipped, and as they were not loaded until 3 p. m. they looked 
hollow and were empty. The shrinkage on these cattle was only 16 
pounds per head, which was of course due to the poor fill they had 
when loaded. As there are many cattle loaded in Texas under the 
same conditions this shipment is an important one and may be taken 
as an average for shrinkage on such shipments. 
The difference between the shrinkage of cattle loaded under the 
above conditions and of cattle loaded where they have had an oppor- 
tunity to graze and drink before loading is clearly shown by the com- 
parison of this shipment with the next one below. These 27 cattle 
were on the road to the loading pens two days, but had grass and 
water until loading time. They were in transit to market 24J hours, 
the same time as the 291 head, and were handled the same way after 
loading, but they shrank 51 pounds per head, as compared with 16 
pounds for the previous shipment. The greater part of this shrink- 
age of 51 pounds was merely the loss of the fill taken before loading. 
The last shipment shown in the table was composed of 29 cows in 
medium flesh, These cattle had a very poor run to market, requiring 
33J hours to make the trip. Their shrinkage was 58 pounds per 
head. As their fill taken at market was not secured it can not be said 
just how much of this large shrinkage was due to the very poor run 
and how much to a lack of fill at the market. 
The grand averages for the 1,383 cows show their average weight 
to be 907 pounds, the time in transit to market to be 27 hours, and 
their net shrinkage to be 32 pounds per head. This is but 3.5 per cent 
of their live weight. 
