Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 525 



organized. I believe if the cattle feeders of Missouri and the middle 

 west were fairly organized, each state and by counties, and knew 

 the supply of cattle on feed for winter, spring and summer periods, 

 you could in. that way regulate the receipts to some extent. I 

 know it would probably be a difficult matter to do it, but a thorough 

 organization could accomplish a .great deal, and in that way avoid 

 glutting the market at certain periods. You all know that if you 

 give us excessive receipts for a week or two it results in sharp 

 declines, and you have also noticed, too, that when we receive light 

 receipts for a week or two the market regains that decline very 

 quickly. I believe that if by thoroughly organizing all over the 

 country and keeping in close touch with just what is on feed and 

 what time of year it will be marketed, you can control the live 

 stock market to a considerable extent. I hope you will work and 

 build up this organization, talk to your neighbors, interest them, 

 get them to join the organization and work together, and I am quite 

 sure that you will never regret it and will accomplish great good. 



We have all kinds of cattle feeders, some who buy the strictly 

 choice kinds, make long feeds and practically top cattle when they 

 are ready for market, others who buy good cattle. Then we have a 

 class of feeders who buy the medium and common grades that make 

 good butcher cattle or cheap dressed beef cattle when they are 

 ready for market. 



Now my observation has been that cattle feeders as a rule, 

 one year with the other, make money, whether they make a long 

 feed or a short one, whether they handle the best feeders or the 

 common ones. Yet, there are some feeders who are not successful, 

 whether they make long or short feeds, whether they handle good 

 cattle or the common ones. Very much depends on the judgment 

 a feeder uses in buying (I might say, well bought is half sold), using 

 good judgment about marketing them, and classifying them prop- 

 erly. I never knew any one who could classify fat cattle as well 

 as Mr. Titus Sudduth of Sangamon county, Illinois, who died sev- 

 eral years ago. He fed cattle quite extensively and very success- 

 fully. He handled some of the very best and made market toppers, 

 also fed the medium to good kinds and frequently some of the com- 

 mon and cheaper kinds, but he always made them fat and classified 

 them as to quality, weight and size, and used good judgment in 

 marketing them in small lots. In this way his average price was 

 much better than if he had marketed them in large droves. Many 

 of our most successful feeders only market a few cars at a time. 



