436 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



the situation very thoroughly, and have discussed the matter with 

 the stockholders of the packing houses and other interests, and it 

 seems the only thing to do at this time with the live stock receipts, 

 is to do what has been done, create zones and endeavor to have a 

 five-day market rather than two or three days. It has further de- 

 veloped, in bringing to you the zone system, that some of the 

 days have not been as well filled as they should have been. I 

 think that is only a matter of detail that can easily be remedied 

 by adding to or cutting oft" the service from the days that have 

 too much or those that have not enough. 



I find the terminals at the stock yards have been heavily con- 

 gested. I find that most of the principal markets, particularly 

 Chicago and Kansas City, to which the majority of the stock is 

 now moving, the roads are endeavoring to get into their stock 

 yards around 5 to 7 o'clock. As an illustration, you take from 

 1,000 to 2,500 cars arriving at a market point loaded with live 

 stock, many of the cars having partitions for all classes of stock, 

 and being only able to unload around 200 to 250 cars per hour, 

 you can not unload 2,000 or 3,000 cars of stock in two or three 

 hours' time. You gentlemen know that every car that is un- 

 loaded at the stock yards must be counted out of the chutes and 

 delivered to some commission man's division for sale. You no 

 doubt understand that each car as it is counted out has to be in- 

 spected by a representative of the Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 cvnd if not inspected as taken out, it must be inspected before it is 

 sold. Now, if it takes all this to complete the transaction, and 

 stock usually arrives at a market at about 5 o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, and they can only unload from 200 to 250, and at the great- 

 est number 300 cars per hour, then you can see, with 2,000 cars 

 per day, you are unloading your stock all through the day. In 

 fairness to the packers and everybody else, I want to say we have 

 just looked over the unloading receipts at the Union Stock Yards, 

 and find that from 7 to 10 o'clock in the morning the average 

 unloaded is from 33 to 35 per cent, and at noon in the neighbor- 

 hood of 50 per cent. Therefore, as long as receipts arrive and 

 are unloaded as late as noon, and from that up until 6 o'clock, 

 you can see where the railroad stock yards are working to dis- 

 advantage. It very frequently happens that stock coming in in 

 the evening and afternoon is interfering with the outbound busi- 

 ness which moves from the same alleys and same chutes and is 

 loaded on the same platform, in many cases, as the inbound. You 



