18 EXPERIMENT STATION WORK, LI. v 



i 



to aid those engaged in growing and handling sheep to understand', 

 and apply the market reports. 



The grower or feeder offering sheep for sale often forms a very imperfect 

 estimate of their market value, and chiefly because his contact with the open 

 market has not been sufficient to familiarize him with the factors embodied 

 by the various terms in market reports. * * * Because his judgment as to 

 the true market worth of his sheep is uncertain, the owner may suffer a finan- 

 cial loss in dealing with a local buyer by selling under the market value or by 

 missing a sale by asking too much for them. If, at the time of sale, the owner 

 could definitely determine the value of his sheep, he would experience less 

 difficulty in coming to an early understanding with the local buyer, or in case 

 he shipped them direct to the open market, the chances for disappointment and 

 dissatisfaction would be greatly reduced. While it is the privilege of a few to 

 visit the markets often and there learn the requirements and the demands for 

 the different grades in the various classes, the great majority of sheep owners, 

 and many feeders, must depend largely upon the market reports for such in- 

 formation, and the value of these reports to the man who proposes to buy or 

 sell sheep is determined by the extent to which he can apply them to his par- 

 ticular purchase or sale. 



MUTTON SHEEP. 



Under this head are classed " all sheep and lambs sent to market 

 for slaughter, no matter what the condition, age, or weight," includ- 

 ing both native and western sheep. 



Native sheep are those produced, ordinarily in small flocks, on the farms of 

 the Central, Southern, and Eastern States. Western sheep are those produced, 

 usually in large bands, on the ranges of the Western States. As a rule, western 

 sheep have enough Merino blood to make them markedly different in appear- 

 ance from natives which are mostly from mutton-bred parents. But even were 

 they identical in breeding, buyers and salesmen on the market could easily 

 distinguish between them because of differences resulting from the way in 

 which they are fed and managed. On markets where both native and western 

 sheep are received, the daily reports nearly always distinguish between them, 

 but in this bulletin no attempt is made to classify them separately where they 

 are both put to the same use. Hence both native and western sheep are placed 

 in the mutton and in the breeding classes, but only western sheep are placed 

 in the feeder class. While thin natives are often bought up in the country and 

 successfully fed, those that reach the market in low condition do not sell as 

 feeders because they are usually infested with internal parasites, thus making 

 it difficult and in many instances impossible to fatten them. 



It is stated that a common practice is " to prefix the word ' fed ' 

 before a certain class and grade to distinguish grain from grass- 

 fattened sheep. The term is used for a short time in the autumn and 

 in the spring when both grain and grass fattened sheep are coming 

 to market." 



Lambs. Of the various subclasses of mutton sheep " the one known 

 as ' lambs ' is by far the most important, due to the fact that the pro- 

 ducer can most profitably market his sheep as lambs and also that 

 lamb is preferred to mutton by the consumer. * * * 



360 



