LECTURE VI. 



MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES. (Continued.) 



Stockers and Feeders. 



This class may, with reason, be considered to be the 

 most important of all market classes from the standpoint of 

 the feeder and practical farmer, for it is animals of this 

 class that are purchased and shipped to the farms to convert 

 grain and roughage into a more marketable form. Stockers 

 and feeders are the foundation from which the other classes 

 are built up; they are valued from the standpoint of the pro- 

 ducer, while the beef cattle and butcher stock classes are 

 controlled wholly by the interests of the butcher. 



Stockers are arimals that are of such age and individual 

 excellence that they can more profitably be turned on pas- 

 ture or carried for a time on rough feed, than to be put 

 directly upon grain feeding. Feeders are those that may 

 profitably be put directly on grain. The dividing line be- 

 tween stockers and feeders is a broad one. Steers that are 

 exactly the same in every respect, may be used by one buyer 

 as feeders, and by another as stockers. While it is impossi- 

 ble to make an absolute distinction between stockers and 

 feeders, age and weight are the chief factors in determining 

 the difference. Feeders are usually at least 15-18 months 

 old, and range from 800 to 1,200 pounds in weight, though 

 the majority are between 900 and 1,100 pounds. Stockers are 

 chiefly young animals, under 18 months, and weighing less 

 than 800 pounds. Steers make up the bulk of the offerings 

 of both stockers and feeders, but bulls, cows, heifers, and 

 calves are also included in this class. Cows and heifers 

 always sell for less than steers of similar grades. 



The recognized grades are: choice, good, medium, com- 

 mon, and inferior. A higher grade known as fancy is some- 



