122 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



they are accustomed to express values in terms of dollars and 

 cents rather than in the grade names used in reporting the mar- 

 kets in the newspapers. There is no close agreement on the 

 exact application of these terms. Even the reporters for the 

 papers are not themselves agreed on the application of many 

 terms they use. 



Between one market and another there are still other dif- 

 ferences in the application of terms. The best fat steers of a 

 certain market will be quoted as prime steers in the daily reports 

 of that market as given in the newspapers, yet these same steers 

 on some other large market where a better class of cattle are 

 regularly received would never be called better than choice 

 steers. Admittedly there is opportunity for, and need of, greater 

 uniformity in the use and meaning of market terms, yet the mar- 

 ket classifications 'as they now exist at various markets, with 

 all their inaccuracies and lack of uniformity, serve a valuable 

 purpose. They furnish at least some sort of a "handle" to the 

 market. Without them it would be next to impossible to report 

 the markets to country stock buyers, stockmen, and farmers. 

 For example, the term "canner cow" has come to have a pretty 

 generally accepted meaning. So has "fat steer," "veal calf," 

 "feeder steer," and many other class names, but the require- 

 ments of the various grades within each class are far from being 

 definitely agreed upon by various individuals, and various 



markets. 







Cattle Prices at Chicago. 



Chicago prices during 1918. The average price for fat 

 steers on the Chicago market* during 1918 at $14.65 stood as 

 a new record in that market. Butcher stock reached a new 

 record average at $9.50, and the same was true of grass western 

 steers at $14.40, cutters and canners at $7.25, veal calves at 

 $15.75, and stockers and feeders at $10.25. The lowest and 

 highest prices paid at Chicago for the various classes of cattle 

 in 1918 were as follows: Fat steers, $9.00-$20.50; western 

 range steers, $7.25-$18.50; western cows and heifers, $4.85- 

 $14.50; fat native cows and heifers, $5. 50-$ 18. 00; native bulls, 

 $5.50-$16.00; cutters and canners, $3.50-$8.35; stockers and 

 feeders, $5.50-$14.50; and veal calves, $4.25-$19.75. 



* Year Book of Figures, 1919. 



