WINTER RATIONS AND PASTURE GAINS OF CALVES. 
11 
just after they were turned to pasture. They also lost weight 
slightly in August, 1917. With these exceptions the calves each year 
gained uniformly during the first 28 days, but not nearly so much 
as they gained during the second 28 days on pasture. While the 
calves in Lot 3 gained much more than those of Lots 1 and 2 during 
the winter periods, they did not make so much gain as Lots 1 and 2 
on pasture. Those which gained most or lost least during the winter 
made the least gains on grass. 
SUMMARY OF FEEDING. 
1. The following quantities of feed per day per calf averaging 
385 pounds in weight at the beginning of the winter feeding period 
produced the corresponding gains in live weight for 134 days. 
Lot 
No. 
Average daily ration. 
Pounds. 
Total 
winter 
gain. 
1 
12.3 
3.9 
.6 
12.3 
4.9 
9.2 
2.6 
Pounds. 
1 
Rye hay 
\ 55 
Cottonseed meal 
| 
?, 
} 46 
3 
} 9S 
Grain mixture 
2. The calves which made the greatest winter gain (Lot 3) also 
made the greatest total gain for the year, although they did not gain 
so much during the summer period as calves which put on less gain 
during the winter. Similar results, which are published in Depart- 
ment of Agriculture Bulletin Xo. 870, were obtained in handling 
yearling steers. 
3. In wintering calves 4.9 pounds of clover hay (Lot 2) are practi- 
cally equal to 3.9 pounds of rye hay and 0.6 pound of cottonseed meal 
(Lot 1) as a supplement to corn silage. 
II. COST OF RATIONS FOR WINTERING CALVES. 
Whether to purchase calves in the fall and carry them through 
the winter largely on roughage or to purchase them in the spring 
after some one else has wintered them is a question which the thought- 
ful cattle grazier tries to answer. Xo 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 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 
