232 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



grade are used to produce choice and prime lambs for the spring 

 and early summer markets, and without a great deal of general 

 quality, they could scarcely fulfill their mission. It is well to 

 distinguish between good general quality and over-refinement, 

 as delicate, over-refined ewes are without sufficient constitution 

 to be profitable producers." 



7. Condition. "While choice breeding ewes should be 

 thrifty and active, fat is not desirable as the purchaser prefers 

 to place these ewes on pasture and cheap forage feeds which will 

 secure the condition desired at a lower cost than the price de- 

 manded on the market. Breeding ewes are somewhat like 

 feeder lambs in that they are the result of a sort where those 

 ewes of desirable form, quality, breeding, age, soundness, and 

 thrift, but somewhat lower than mutton condition, are selected 

 out from those that are fatter and desirable for mutton." 



Good breeding ewes. Undesirable markings, age, weight, 

 form, and condition cause breeding ewes to grade as good. 



Common breeding ewes. This grade is characterized by 

 mixed breeding and advanced age. The common grade of breed- 

 ing ewes merges with the feeder class. 



Breeding bucks. Rams are taken out of the Chicago and 

 other markets for breeding purposes, but most of them are of 

 poor form and mixed breeding. Anyone who has visited the 

 sheep pens at Chicago or at any other large live-stock center 

 will testify that the breeder who goes to the open market to 

 select sires will never succeed in raising the merit of his flock 

 above the level of mediocrity. The practice is unjustifiable 

 and unprofitable. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Hot-house lambs. These are lambs produced early and 

 marketed before the general run of spring lambs starts to market, 

 which is about May 20. A few shipments reach the Chicago 

 market, where they are called "spring lambs," but the open 

 market is not the best place to dispose of such a product. The 

 men who have made the most profit from the production of hot- 

 house lambs are those who cater directly to the eastern hotel 

 and restaurant trade. The practice is to slaughter the lambs 

 on the farm where they are produced, and pack the carcasses 

 in ice for shipment, small shipments being made regularly during 

 the winter and early spring. They are in most demand from 

 Christmas until Easter. They must be fat and weigh between 

 40 and 55 pounds. 



