14 BTLLETIX 870. U. S. DEPART VLEXT OF AGEICCXTTEE. 
6. Steers wintered on dry roughage alone i'Lot 3 1 . which, lost weight 
during the winter, and those fed a maintenance ration only of which 
corn silage was a part (Lot 1) made greater gains during the first two 
months on grass than those steers (Lot 2) which had made consider- 
able gain (60 pounds) during the winter. This would be expected if 
the steers in the first-mentioned lots were to be finished in the same 
condition as those in Lot 2, as they had considerably more gain to 
make in order to catch up in weight. 
7. There was a slight tendency for the steers fed on dry roughage 
alone (Lot 3) to make less gain during the last two months of the 
pasture season than did the steers which had received silage in the 
ration (Lots 1 and 2) during the preceding winter, although this dif- 
ference was very slight. 
n. THE USE OF SILAGE AND THE COST OF RATIONS FOR WINTERING 
YEARLING STEERS. 
Shall I purchase steers (that are to be fattened from grass the 
next summer) in the fall, and carry them through the winter largely 
on roughage, or shall I purchase them in the spring after some one 
else has wintered them ? This is a question which the thoughtful 
cattle grazer in the good pasture areas is likely to ask himself and 
which it is of considerable importance to answer correctly. Xo 
matter what the answer may be on any particular farm or in any 
particular section of country, the fact remains that cattle are 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 preced- 
ing fall. This increase in value is due largely to the cost of winter- 
ing, depending upon the rations and methods used. 
The data already presented in this bulletin afford an opportunity 
to throw some light upon this important subject. In the following 
discussion of this question it is necessary to -Rx the prices for feeds 
on the farm. It is felt, however, that this is the most questionable 
and unsatisfactory part of such experimental work, and is especially 
true for the last few years, during which unusual fluctuations have 
occurred in feed prices. 
PRICES OF FEEDS USED. 
During the four years that this experiment was in progress the 
price of silage increased from $4 to SS a ton, cottonseed meal from 
S30 to $60, and hay and straw advanced respectively 33J and 50 
per cent. Thus the cost of wintering a steer in 1917-18 was nearly 
double the cost of keeping him through the winter 1914-15. While 
feed prices remain high, it is not certain that they will continue at 
the present high level for any great length of time. For this reason, 
and also for simplicity in making the various calculations, an average 
of the feed prices for the four years is used, as foUows: 
