TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 211 



sheep for slaughter. The fact that New York butchers have 

 been able to dispose of pelts profitably very largely explains 

 their survival in the face of keen competition with packers. 



The slaughtering departments of those packing houses 

 equipped with wool pulleries are credited each day with the 

 value of the pelts sent from the killing floor. The value per 

 pelt varies, depending upon (1) size of pelt, (2) weight of fleece, 

 (3) quality of fleece, (4) cleanness of fleece, (5) amount of grease, 

 (6) color of wool, and (7) thickness of skin. On this basis the 

 value per r elt at the present time (March, 1919) ranges as low 

 as 80 c? ts for lambs, and as high as $6.50 for sheep pelts in full 

 fleece depending mostly upon age, breeding, and season of 

 th year. The average price of Chicago pelts is now about 

 $3.90 per pelt. This is extremely high, due to the present 

 high values of wool and skins. The value of the pelt plays an 

 important part in determining the value of a sheep to the packer. 

 The buyer's appreciation of the value of the pelt results, in most 

 instances, in a much fairer price than would otherwise be paid. 



Packing houses and other wholesale butchers not equipped 

 with wool pulleries have two methods of disposing of the pelts; 

 they may either contract them in advance at a fixed price per 

 pelt, or they may allow them to accumulate and then solicit 

 bids. In the latter case, the bidders make an examination and 

 the pelts sell on their merits. In the former case, the packer or 

 butcher has no incentive to pay a premium for well-wooled sheep, 

 but, on the contrary, it is to his advantage to select those with 

 light pelts. One prominent sheep buyer on the Chicago market 

 designated the contract plan as "slipshod," and he stated that 

 "eventually it must cease as competition becomes more keen." 

 He also said, "I instruct my men to consider wool as well as 

 meat, and when they make bids, you may be sure they have 

 estimated the value of the pelt as well as the carcass." 



Pelts are most valuable in the spring just before shearing 

 time. Shorn sheep sell at a discount because the wool cannot 

 be pulled at a profit until it has a growth of three-quarters of 

 an inch or more. When the staple measures less than this, the 

 pelts are tanned with the wool on, and the price received is small 

 compared with pelts which can be pulled. The time of shearing 

 marks the close of winter and the opening of pasturage, hence 

 shorn sheep are often gaunt, and this is another reason for the 

 lower price. 



