40 BULLETIN 110, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The steers in the experiments sold for about 4^ cents a pound on 
the farm, so we have the following statement : 
To cost of wintering 1 steer $4. 25 
By value of 60 pounds increase in weight, at 4^ cents a pound $2. 70 
By increased value of 17 cents per hundredweight on the heavier steers 
over the lighter ones necessary to break even 1. 55 
Total 4. 25 4. 25 
From the above it is seen that the winter-fed steers would have 
to sell for 17 cents per hundred pounds more than the others to pay 
for the winter feed. A reliable commission man of New Orleans 
stated that the heavier steers would sell for about 25 cents per 
hundredweight more on that market, while buyers from Atlanta, 
Ga., and Meridian, Miss., who purchased some of the steers, stated 
that for their trade there was not enough difference in weight to 
cause a variation in price. 
SUMMARY. 
1. Cattle which became very thin during the winter made larger 
daily gains the following summer on pasture than steers which were 
in better flesh at the beginning of the pasture season. 
2. Usually the greater the winter loss experienced, the greater 
was the gain the following summer, and vice versa. 
3. Steers which are to be finished for the early summer markets 
should enter the pastures in good flesh in the spring. Such cattle 
sell for a premium which justifies the expense of giving them feed in 
addition to the range during the winter months and a heavy ration 
of cottonseed cake while on pasture during the summer. 
4. Although steers which were wintered on range alone made larger 
gains during the summer, the total gains made from fall until the 
steers were sold were usually smaller than those made by steers 
which were given feed in addition to winter range and subsequently 
finished on pasture. 
5. The difference in live weight amounted to 109 pounds per 
steer at the beginning of the pasture season and 60 pounds per steer 
at the time the steers were sold. This difference in weight was in 
favor of the winter-fed steers. 
6. Steers which had been wintered on a half ration of cowpea hay 
and range made practically the same gains during the combined 
winter and summer periods as steers that were wintered on a half 
ration of meal and hulls plus range. 
7. When cotton seed is worth but $14 per ton it can be used with 
greater economy than cotton seed meal and hulls for wintering 
steers which are to be finished on pasture the following summer. 
The average daily gain with cotton seed for the combined winter 
and summer periods was 1 pound per day, or slightly smaller than 
for steers wintered on cowpea hay or cottonseed meal and hulls. 
