$20 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



uniform at the various live-stock markets and similar grades with 

 some local variations are used as the basis of published quotations 

 at leading market centers. 



Cattle are divided into seven general classes, the first five of which 

 consist of animals which are ready for slaughter. The first one is 

 called "beef cattle" and includes only steers that are fattened, and may 

 be sold as carcass "beef." "Butcher stock" consists of the inferior 

 steers and all the cows and heifers except the very poorest. These 

 latter are called "cutters," "strippers," and "canners," and are the 

 old, thin animals which are fit for little but boneless cuts, canned and 

 cured meats, and sausage. The fourth class, which is made up of 

 "bulls," is used mainly for sausage, though the younger and better 

 ones are often sold as dressed beef or beef cuts, in which case they are 

 classed as butcher stock. Calves constitute the fifth division. The 

 last two classes are called "stockers" and "feeders" and include thin 

 cattle, both male and female, which are sold to feeders for further 

 fattening. The "stockers" are younger and generally weigh under 

 seven hundred pounds, while the "feeders" are older and heavier. 



Prices paid and quoted on these classes are based chiefly upon the 

 killing value of the animal. Thus, "canners" sell below "beef 

 cattle" because they will dress out a small proportion of valuable 

 meat; and stockers are worth less than feeders because they require 

 more time and feed to put them in condition for slaughter. Sheep 

 and swine are graded upon the same general principles as cattle, 

 although, in the case of hogs, at least, with less detail. 



The buyers consist of five classes: the local packer who is buying 

 for immediate slaughter; the buyer of a packing company who has 

 no plant at that particular market; "order buyers," or those who are 

 buying on orders from outside parties; the speculator or "scalper" 

 who picks up bargains to resell; and, lastly, the stockman who comes 

 to buy feeders. The buyers of the local packers and the feeder- 

 buyers are the ones that really constitute the backbone of a market. 

 The representatives of the outside packer, the order buyers, and the 

 scalpers are the ones who prevent violent fluctuations in prices and 

 who tend to establish and hold the normal spread between different 

 markets. If South St. Paul values decline more than those of Chicago, 

 some scalper or packer's representative bids in to hold until prices 

 rise or for shipment east, and these purchases strengthen the market. 

 Thus, though Swift & Company have the only large plant in South 

 St. Paul, they must bid in competition with other buyers who pur- 



