LIVE-STOCK SHIPPERS' ASSOCIATIONS 455 



delivery or that they have shrunk excessively or there is a 

 discrepancy in dockage, proper adjustments can be made." 

 Sheep are commonly marked with washable paint, rather 

 than ordinary oil paint, which injures the wool, and can not 

 be scoured out. Combinations of colors and marks on top 

 of head or back may be used, such as will allow for identify- 

 ing ownership of many animals. 



Uniform grading of shipments of live stock is very desir- 

 able, if possible. It is quite customary for hogs of the same 

 grade, even though shipped by several parties, to be sold 

 together as one lot, and the settlement afterwards prorated. 

 This method reduces extra labor of weighing different lots. 



The sinking fund of the co-operative shipping associa- 

 tion as set forth in the by-laws is for the purpose of paying 

 for losses incurred while live stock is in the hands of the 

 association. It is in the nature of an insurance fund. A 

 common custom in creating this fund is to deduct two cents 

 per 100 weight on cattle and 3 cents on hogs, sheep, and 

 calves. There are exceptions to this plan, however, as, for 

 example, a certain per cent of the proceeds of shipment 

 may be charged, 2 per cent being a fair amount. 



The expense of co-operative shipping varies with the local 

 conditions, the distance from the market, and the section of 

 country where transportation takes place. Figures com- 

 piled in Wisconsin* relating to seventy associations show 

 home expenses, including manager's salary, labor, incidentals, 

 and sinking fund contribution, to amount to $25 per car; 

 the freight expense averaged $38 per car, while the terminal 

 market charges show that for selling, commission, yardage, 

 feed, and bedding, the average expense was $30 per car, or 

 a total of $93. The Wisconsin authorities estimate the ex- 

 pense of marketing a car load of live stock of that state to 

 range from $50 to $150 or from 2J^ to 7J/2 per cent of the 

 value of the live stock. The 1917 experience of 203 Minne- 

 sota associations showed the cost of central market expenses 



*Bulletin 314, Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station. 



