136 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



they can be and still give room enough to get one up if 

 it gets down. A 36-foot car will hold above forty av- 

 erage two-year-old steers, thirty-four cows, fifty-five or 

 sixty yearlings or 110 calves. Twenty-eight three- and 

 four-year-old steers will make a good load. These fig- 

 ures are for average southern stock and are not given as 

 hard and fast rules, but simply to show about how much 

 stuff is ordinarily loaded. The length of the run, the 

 condition of the cattle, and the judgment of the shipper 

 are all to be considered. 



Care is taken not to give the stock water for at least 

 twelve hours before loading, as it keeps the cars from 

 getting sloppy and slippery, resulting in the animals get- 

 ting down and being injured by the others tramping 

 upon them. Such animals are in stockyard circles known 

 as "downers." 



Once in the cars they are not unloaded until they 

 reach a regular feeding point, and as the Federal law now 

 requires them to be fed and watered at least once in 

 twenty-eight hours the runs must be planned to meet 

 this law. 



Loss of "Downers." The men in charge of the cattle 

 endeavor to keep them on their feet and do not allow 

 them to lie down. This is because if one lies down the 

 others will fall over it and trample it, bruising and often 

 killing it. If one does get down the man prods it until 

 it struggles to its feet. Sometimes when the stock is 

 weak, in the spring shipment it is necessary for the ship- 

 pers to get right down into the car and fight the cattle 

 off the prostrate animal until a place is cleared for it to 

 rise. Many a shipper of this class of cattle spends hours 

 riding in the cars while the train is running keeping 



