30 BULLETIN 628, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
profit was $22.36 per head. Allowing a credit of $4 per steer for 
the manure during the winter, the profit was $26.36 per head. This 
proved to be one of the most favorable and satisfactory methods of 
handling cattle during both winter and summer. 
The winter-grazed cattle cost the least per head, both winter and 
summer, this being $10.80, or $1.26 less per head than the steers in 
Lot 3, which made the next most economical showing and whose total 
profit was $21.77 per head. 
The results of three years' work show that steers which have been 
fed silage heavily during the winter, make practically as good gains 
the following summer on pasture as steers wintered solely on dry 
feeds. The total average gain of the silage-wintered steers from fall 
to fall was 319 pounds, while the dry-fed steers made a total average 
gain of 329 pounds per head. Considering that the dry-fed cattle 
were somewhat the better in quality, there is not enough difference 
in the gains to show that silage-wintered cattle do not thrive well the 
following summer. 
The results show conclusively the value of winter pasture when 
combined with summer pasture. The total average gain from fall to 
fall on these cattle was 350 pounds, which was made at a cost of 
$0,031 per pound. The winter-grazed cattle did well on- summer 
grass and on the average were better cattle when finished in the fall 
than those wintered in the barns. 
The next most economical showing was made by the cattle wintered 
on silage, stover, and hay, followed by grass in summer. The aver- 
age cost per pound gain was $0,039 for the total gain made from 
fall to fall. This shows the value of silage in wintering stocker 
cattle. 
The dry- wintered cattle which were finished on grass alone the 
next summer made an average gain of 344 pounds per steer at an 
average cost of $0,048 per pound, which was practically 1 cent per 
pound more for the total gains made than the silage-wintered cattle. 
The cattle wintered on silage, corn stover, and hay and finished 
on grass and cake made an average total gain from fall to fall of 
328 pounds at a cost of $0,065 per pound, whereas the cattle wintered 
on the same ration but finished on grass alone made their gains at a 
cost of $0,038 per pound. This shows that the silage and grass com- 
bination during winter and summer, respectively, is the more satis- 
factory, considering the cost of the gains. 
The steers wintered on a dry ration of ear corn, corn stover, and hay 
and finished during the summer on grass and cottonseed cake made 
a total gain of 314 pounds from fall to fall at an average cost of 
$0,074 per pound. This was the most expensive gain produced. It 
is interesting to note in this connection that this is the common 
