FATTENING STEERS ON PASTURE IN THE SOUTH. 
17 
grass, white clover, and some crab grass. No stock had been on the 
pastures before the experiment began, so that an abundance of grass 
and clover was available for the cattle throughout the experiment. 
Heavy rains sometimes caused water to stand on parts of both 
pastures, and the grass was considered too " washy " to produce the 
best gains on the cattle. Parts of the pastures were clipped with a 
mower late in July, causing some improvement. 
The two lots of steers were interchanged from one pasture to the 
other, so that discrepancies due to a difference in pastures might be 
avoided. Pasture was charged at the rate of 50 cents a head for a 
28-day period. 
METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE CATTLE. 
The steers of lot 2 were fed their cake in troughs in the pasture 
about sundown each day. They came up well for their feed, and 
relished it. Water was obtained from ditches and pools in the pas- 
tures. Individual weights of all steers were taken at the beginning 
and at the close of the test, and each lot was weighed at the end of 
each 28-day period while the experiment was in progress. 
RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT. 
The main features and results of the test are shown in Table 8, 
in which the two lots are compared with respect to rate of gains, 
cost of gains, profits, etc. 
Table 8. — Results of summer steer 'feeding in Mississippi, 1916. 
Item. 
Lotl. 
Pasture 
alone. 
Lot 2. 
Pasture 
and cotton 
seed cake. 
Number of steers 
Days of feeding period 
Average daily ration per head: 
Cottonseed cake 
Cost of pasture and feed for 100 pounds gain 
Cost per head to feed through sumrrer 
Initial cost of steers per 100 pounds 
Selling price of steers per 100 pounds 
Average profit per head 
Average initial weight per head 
Average final weight per head 
Average total gain per head' 
Average daily gain per head 
30 
134 
.pounds. 
pounds. 
...do... 
...do... 
...do... 
$1.12 
$2. 39 
$5.50 
$5.85 
$5.88 
662 
876 
214 
1.60 
30 
134 
4.32 
$4.54 
$11. 67 
$5.50 
$6.10 
1 $0. 05 
664 
921 
257 
1.92 
1 A loss. 
DAILY RATIONS. 
Lot 1 had only pasture. Cottonseed cake was fed to lot 2 at the 
rate of 2 pounds a head daily for the first few days. This was 
increased gradually during the first 3 periods, until on August 1 the 
