BEEF CATTLE IN NORTH CAROLINA. 
fed the same ration each year. The plan was not to make the cattle 
in the various lots gain in weight, but rather to winter them econom- 
ically, using light rations even though they lost some weight during 
the winter, the fattening to be done on grass the following summer. 
With the amounts of feed used the steers were wintered as well if 
not better than the average stock cattle are wintered in the mountains. 
An outline of the work is given in Table 1 in order to present a 
clear idea of the nature of the tests conducted. 
Table 1. — General plan of the three years' experiments. 
Lot 
No. 
Average 
number of, 
steers per 
lot for the 
3 years. 
Winter feeding. 1 
Summer feeding. 2 
1 
2 
3 
24 
24 
33 
19 
Ear corn, corn stover, hay, and straw 3 . 
Corn silage, corn stover, hay, and straw 3 
do. 3 
One-half on grass, one-half on grass and 
cottonseed cake. 
Do. 
Grass. 
4 
Do. 
1 From time cattle were taken off pasture in December until turned on pasture about Apr. 15. 
2 From time cattle went on grass in spring to about Sept. 1. 
3 Corn stover and hay were used the first winter. 
The cattle in Lot 1 were fed during the winter each year on ear 
corn and a light ration of corn stover, hay, and straw. These cattle 
were divided in the spring into Division A, finished on grass alone, 
and Division B, fed on grass with a small ration of cottonseed cake 
in addition. 
The cattle in Lot 2 were fed during the winter each year on corn 
silage, corn stover, hay, and straw. In the spring the cattle were 
divided and fed the same as Lot 1. 
The steers in Lot 3 were wintered the same as those in Lot 2. The 
following summer they were all finished on grass. 
The steers in Lot 4 were wintered on pasture, getting no feed or 
shelter except during snows, when they were brought to the barn and 
fed a small ration of dry roughage or dry roughage and ear corn 
combined. The pasture on which these cattle were grazed and 
finished is described on page 15. 
METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE STEERS. 
The steers in Lots 1, 2, and 3 were fed about 8 a. m. and 4 p. m. 
The steers of Lots 2 and 3 were fed silage alone in the morning and 
corn stover, hay, and straw in the afternoon. The steers in Lot 1 
were given one-half of the corn stover, hay, and straw in the morning 
and the other half in the afternoon. The ear corn was chopped and 
given at one feed in the morning. 
The corn stover and hay were mixed together in equal quantities 
and run through a feed cutter before being fed. Where stover, hay, 
and straw were used, these feeds were mixed, one-third each, and 
