16 BULLETIN- 628, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
winter-grazing experiments. By this method the actual cash ex- 
penditures for converting the raw woodland into good permanent 
pasture was the cost of the small amount of seed used, plus the small 
cost of " sprouting " each year for two or three years. This plan can 
be used to advantage in nearly all parts of the mountain counties. 
The pasture was charged at the rate of $1 per steer for each 28 
days. 
OBJECT OF THE WORK. 
The object of the winter-grazing work was: 
(1) To determine the practicability of carrying stock cattle 
through the winter on grass alone. 
(2) To determine a method of wintering that would equalize the 
number of cattle that could be maintained profitably through both 
summer and winter. 
PLAN OF THE WORK. 
This work covered a period of three years. The steers in each 
lot were kept throughout one year, or until the end of the summer 
grazing season, when they were sold as feeders. The cattle were 
bought in the fall and put on winter pasture in late fall, usually 
some time in December, when the summer grass gave out, which was 
about the same time the other cattle in the experiment were taken 
to the barns to be wintered. 
Xo shelter was provided during the winter, as the coves in the 
mountains furnished ample protection. The cattle were given no 
feed except during stormy weather, when they were driven to the 
barn and fed a light feed of hay or ear corn, corn stover, hay, and 
straw. As soon as the snow melted they were taken back to pasture. 
In the three years' work it was found that usually there is a period 
of 10 days to 3 weeks that the cattle will have to be fed. In the 
spring the cattle in this winter-grazing work were put on summer 
pasture as soon as it would carry them, usually at the same time the 
barn-wintered cattle were taken to summer pasture. 
KIND OF STEERS USED. 
The cattle used in this work were all grade native steers of Short- 
horn, Hereford, and Angus breeding with a slight amount of Devon 
blood in most of them. During the first year's work, 1913-11. the 
steers used were not as large or as uniform as those used the two fol- 
lowing years. The steers of the first year were mostly " short 2-year- 
olds " : those of the last two years were mostly 2-3^ear-olds. All were 
the same in quality and condition as the cattle used in the barn win- 
tering, with the exception of those of the first year, which were some- 
what lighter in weight than the barn-wintered cattle. 
