TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 73 



with respect to hogs and sheep. In order to more nearly equalize 

 receipts, the zone system of marketing was applied to the Chicago 

 Union Stock Yards on December 10, 1917, and has been con- 

 tinued to the present time. This system was inaugurated by 

 the U. S. Food Administration as a war measure. Under this 

 plan a circle is drawn on the map so as to include Eastern Iowa, 

 Illinois, and most of Wisconsin. The regulations provide that 

 those who live within the circle may ship their stock so as to 

 arrive on the Chicago market on Tuesday, Thursday, and Satur- 

 day, and that those outside the line may ship so as to arrive at 

 Chicago on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The stabilizing 

 effects of this system are shown by the fact that, during 1918, 

 30 per cent, of cattle were received at Chicago on Monday, 

 23 per cent, on Tuesday, 14 per cent, on Wednesday, 19 per cent, 

 on Thursday, 10 per cent, on Friday, and 4 per cent, on Satur- 

 day. 



Early cattle markets. A century ago cattle markets were 

 small and largely local in character. The "West" at that time 

 comprised what we now designate as the Middle West, embrac- 

 ing Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the live-stock 

 business and the meat business of that time were far different 

 propositions than today. There were no railroads, no live-stock 

 cars, no refrigerator cars, no steamships, and no large live-stock 

 markets. Every large town had its own stock yards or cattle 

 market to which cattle were driven from the surrounding coun- 

 try and sold to butchers. The cattle business and the meat 

 business were local affairs of small dimensions depending upon 

 the size of the town. In time, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, 

 and Baltimore became rather large markets, and in some instances 

 cattle were driven long distances to supply them. 



Early methods of transportation. This was before the days 

 of railroads, and even after the railroads came, very few live 

 animals were carried until about 1860. Prior to 1850, it was 

 the general practice to drive live stock to market on foot. At 

 that time, in many parts of the country, pasturage was free 

 along the routes, and the animals were driven by easy stages, 

 reaching market without very much depreciation. George 

 Renick, of Ohio, was perhaps the first man to find an outlet for 

 cattle fattened in what was then "The West." He was one of 

 the first settlers of the Scioto Valley, having come in with his 

 brother, Felix, from Virginia, and selected large tracts of land 

 near the present site of Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1805, against 



