12 
BULLETIN 628, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
these steers, while it cost $10.10 per steer to winter those in Lot 1. or 
more than twice as much. Comparison of the spring prices shows 
that the steers in Lot 4 cost $0.73 per hundredweight more in the 
spring than they did in the fall, while those in Lot 1 cost $1.57 more, 
in Lot 2 $1.67 more, and in Lot 3 $1.73 more. It cost more than 
twice as much in every case to winter the cattle in the barns as it did 
to winter those on pasture when the cost of feed and the gain or loss 
in weight of the cattle are considered. 
In 1911-15 it cost $12.20 to winter each steer of Lot 1. The fall 
cost per hundredweight was $6 and spring cost $7.96. The silage 
cattle in Lot 2 cost S7.58 per head to winter; the fall cost per hundred 
pounds was $6 and the spring cost $7.30. The silage-fed cattle in 
Lot 3 gave practically the same results. The cost of wintering them 
was $7.15 per hundredweight. It cost $6.29 per steer to winter the 
cattle in Lot 4. The spring price per hundredweight was $6.70, or an 
advance of $0.70 per hundredweight over the intial cost in the fall. 
The advance in the spring price per hundredweight on Lot 1 was 
$1.96 ; on Lot 2. $1.30, and on Lot 3, $1.13. The winter-grazed cattle 
gained in weight while those in the barns lest weight. 
During the winter of 1915-16 the dry-fed cattle (Lot 1) cost $11.08 
per steer to winter. The spring price of this lot was $7.69. an 
advance of $1.69 over the fall cost. The cost of wintering the silage 
cattle in Lots 2 and 3 was $6.78 per steer, and the increased cost in 
spring was $1.22 and $1.25, respectively, per hundredweight. The 
winter-grazed cattle (Lot 4), as in previous years, cost less to winter 
than the cattle in the barns, and at the end of the winter they were 
heavier than they were the previous fall. It cost $5.23 per steer to 
winter them, or an advance of only $0.60 per hundredweight over 
the initial cost. 
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 
Table 5 is a general summary of the three years' work. 
Table 5. — Summary of the three winters' work. 
Lot 
No. 
Ration. 
Year. 
Gain (+) 
orlcss (— ) 
for winter 
per steer. 
Initial 
cost per 
cwt. 
Cost to 
winter 
per 
steer. 
Cost in 
spring 
per 
cwt. 
Advance in 
spring cost 
over initial 
cost per 
cwt. 
1 Ear corn, corn stover,, hay. and 
straw. 
1913-14 
1914-1.5 
1915-16 
Pounds. 
-28 
-32 
-35 
$5.50 sin. 10 
6. 00 1 12. 20 
6.00 | 11.08 
S",07 
7.96 
7.69 
$1.57 
1.96 
Average 
-32 < 5.83 11.13 
7. 57 1 1. 74 
1913-14 
1914-15 
1915-16 
2 Corn silage, corn stover, hay, and 
straw. 
-82 
-28 
-42 
5.50 
6.00 
6.00 
6.97 
7. 58 
6.78 
7.17 
7.30 
7.22 
1.67 
1.30 
1.22 
Average . 
5. V! 
1.40 
