BULLETIN" 870, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
in Greenbrier County, W. Va., to study beef-production problems in 
the Appalachian Mountain region. This farm is located in the 
southeastern part of the State in the blue-grass area. The results of 
this experiment apply not only to 
West Virginia but also to the ad- 
jacent States having similar con- 
ditions, as shown in the outline 
map (fig. 1). Some of the results 
and methods may be of such 
general application as to be util- 
ized to advantage by cattle feeders 
in other parts of the country. 
THE REGION AND THE PROBLEMS 
The topography in most parts of 
the region, except in the vicinity 
of streams, is gently rolling or even 
mountainous in the higher eleva- 
tions. The area is generally cleared 
of forest trees, although vast areas 
of cut-over or stump land are 
found. The farms vary in size 
from less than 100 acres to more 
than 1,000 acres. The land is 
especially well adapted for grazing purposes. In most sections there 
is tillable land for the production of abundant crops for winter feed 
or other purposes. 
It is in this general area that a large percentage of the grass- 
finished cattle are produced, which go annually to eastern markets. 
The fact that most of the steers produced in this area are finished 
for market from grass alone attests the value of the pastures, which 
consist largely of blue grass. The use of grain for finishing cattle 
is not general, although there are many sections where the prac- 
tice is followed, particularly in the valleys of the larger streams 
and on gently rolling areas. By far the larger number of farmers 
who handle beef cattle grow either stockers and feeders or finish 
cattle for market from grass alone. It therefore becomes one of the 
principal beef-production problems in this general area to determine 
the best and most economical method of wintering the cattle and the 
one that will enable them to make the best possible use of the pasture 
the following summer, the time when cheapest gains are made. 
It has been a common practice in this area to winter steers on dry 
feed, such as hay, corn stover, and wheat straw, and on corn silage 
to a less extent, in a way that causes them to lose materially in 
weight. They are then pastured the following summer and sold 
Fig. 1. — Map showing region to which this work 
applies. The black dot indicates the location of 
the farm on which the experiment was con- 
ducted. The shaded p ortion represents the area 
to which the results are applicable, and the dot- 
ted portion shows an additional area to which 
the results apply in part. 
