Caption: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1886
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219 As a rule the weighings are made monthly. Sometimes there appears a strikingly large gain followed by a small one, or even, in rare cases, by slight loss the next month. In weekly or daily weighings these variations would be much more apparent, especially as when weighing on platform scales no account is taken of variations of less than five pounds. Weighings made soon after .any marked change of temperature are often misleading.' The ''shrinkage" following a severe storm is often remarkable. 80, too, extreme heat may have unfavorable effect. The latter part of July, 1885, was almost unprecedentedly hot in this region. Most of August was pleasantly cool. Nearly all our cattle showed comparatively light gain in weight for July; while some, apparently, had made more than ordinarily large gains during August. Several yearlings, on grass alone, showed increase of more than three pounds daily. Frequently cattle lose weight for from one to three weeks when turned on even good pasture in the spring, and again when put on dry feed in the fall. The accompanying table illustrates some of these points. It gives the weights of several bull calves for ten successive days in August, 1886, and also shows gains for the months of August and September, and of two for October, During the time of the daily weighings the weather was warm and dry. The calves were kept in stable during the day and in a small pasture at night, and were weighed in the morning before watering. It will be noticed that four of the five show a large gain from August 12 to August .13. The only explanation to be given is that there was a refreshing rain during the night of August 12. The calves were all well fed, and the small gains are to be attributed in good part to the unfavorable effects of the hot weather. Jersey bull Holstein bullShort-horn bull. Short-horn bull Short-horn bull Date A u g u s t 3. '' '' " *• " "Sept. Oct. Nov. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 15. 1. 1. 1. 590 600 005 015 005 015 005 010 015 010 025 030 005 725 655 655 000 005 000 070 065 060 070 005 685 695 700 770 785 790 785 790 785 790 785 7*0 790 790 800 810 830 875 900 650 635 620 045 655 660 055 055 055 050 000 660 735 885 450 450 440 445 445 450 445 450 450 455 450 465 500 BREED CHARACTERISTICS AS AFFECTING FATTENING. We have fed pure-bred or grade Ayrshires, Devons, Herefords, Holsteins, Jerseys, Shorthorns and "Natives," but only small numbers of some of these. We have not yet sufficient data to
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