FATTENING CATTLE IN" ALABAMA. 5 
grasses. Crab grass and some Johnson grass had grown up between 
the rows and furnished some grazing. The corn had been snapped 
from the stalk and the entire stalks were left in the field. No cane- 
brakes were available, and the cattle which were not fed had to 
depend entirely upon the stalks in the cultivated fields and the native 
grasses. 
The cottonseed meal fed to lot 2 was of the same grade as that in 
previous years and contained about 38 per cent protein. The hay 
used for lot 4 consisted of very coarse Johnson grass mixed with 
weeds and was damaged to such an extent that it could not have been 
sold at all. It could not be cut at the proper stage because of a pro- 
longed rainy spell. The grass had to be cut, however, to permit the 
next cutting to grow off, and instead of using the coarse grass for 
filling ditches, as is often done in similar cases, the hay was raked 
and stacked in a long rick just outside the hayfield, next to a field 
in which the steers were to be wintered. 
The prices placed upon the feeds at the time of the test were as 
follows, these being the current prices of hulls and meal at the time 
the experiment was made: 
Cottonseed meal per ton. . $26 
Cottonseed hulls per ton. . 6 
Damaged hay per ton. . 5 
The duplication of the test of the previous year with cotton seed to 
supplement the range could not be carried out as the price of this feed 
had increased from $14 per ton to over $20 per ton, and at such prices 
the seed could not be profitably used when cottonseed meal sold for 
but a few dollars more per ton. 
No price was placed upon the stalk fields and the open range. No 
revenue would have been secured from them if they had not been 
grazed by the cattle. 
METHOD OF FEEDING AND HANDLING THE CATTLE. 
The cattle ran in the inclosed fields at all times and were not 
penned at any time of the day or night. No shelter was provided 
for them, but during bad weather they sought natural shelters, con- 
sisting of plum thickets, rows of hedge trees, and hillside nooks, 
which gave protection from the winds. The feed was placed in feed 
troughs and racks, which had skids in order that they might be pulled 
from place to place. By this method the manure was dropped in 
different places and the animals did not have to stand in the mud 
while eating. The troughs were placed as near the feed barn as 
practicable, in order to obviate hauling the feed long distances. The 
cattle were fed once each day, just before sundown. Salt was given 
the animals at feeding time to induce them to come the more readily 
