2 BULLETIN 1024, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
David Tuckwiller, in Greenbrier County, W. Va., to study beef-pro- 
duction problems in the Appalachian Mountain region. This farm is — 
located in the southeastern part of the State in the bluegrass area. 
The results of this experiment apply not only to West Virginia, but 
also to the adjacent States having similar conditions, as shown in the 
outline map (fig. 1). Some of the methods are so generally applicable 
that the results may be utilized to advantage by cattle raisers in other 
parts of the country. 
THE REGION AND ITS PROBLEMS. 
The topography in most parts of the region, except in the vicinity 
of streams, is gently rolling or even mountainous in the higher eleva- 
tions. The area is generally 
cleared of forest trees, although 
vast areas of cut-over or stump 
land are found. The farms vary | 
in size from less than 100 acres to 
more than 1,000 acres. The land 
is especially well adapted for 
erazing, and in most sections there 
is tillable land for the production 
of abundant crops for winter feed 
or other purposes. 
In this general area are produced 
a large percentage of the grass- 
finished cattle which go annually 
_{ to eastern markets. The fact that 
Fic. 1.—Region to which this work ap- most of the steers produced in this _ 
plies. The black dot indicates the loca- area are finished for market on 
tion of the farm on which the experi- : 
ment was conducted. The shaded portion gTass alone attests the value of the 
Se Wee GR Ge sai ne pastures, which consist largely of 
shows an additional area to which the bluegrass. The use of grain for 
per finishing cattle is not general, 
although the practice is followed in some sections, particularly in the 
valleys of the larger streams. 
Asa rule most grazers and feeders of beef steers do not raise calves 
to supply their needs for stockers. One of their chief problems, there- 
fore, is to obtain calves, yearling steers, or 2-year-old steers of suit- 
able beef type to use their feed to the best advantage. Many farmers 
keep only a small number.of cows to produce milk and butter for 
their families. Some of them keep good beef cows, breed them to 
good bulls, and raise good calves by giving them a large part of the 
cows’ milk. Others keep cows of the dairy type or of mixed dairy 
preeding, and breed them to either nondescript or dairy bulls. Calves 
