Abstract Magnetization measurements of the ferrite system Cd x Mg 1− x Fe 2 O 4 were undertaken primarily to study the variation of the saturation magnetization with cadmium concentration and to gain information about the Yafet-Kittel (YK) angles in the system for x ⩽ 0.8 at 300 K. The observations indicate the existence of YK type of magnetic ordering in this system. A molecular field analysis of the YK spin ordering using a three sublattice model is shown to explain the experimental data satisfactorily.