32 SHEEP FEEDING 



2. The seller of sheep has them on the market at a heavy 

 and constant cost, and hence is often forced to sell at a sac- 

 rifice. The market buyer is prepared to take advantage of 

 such a condition. 



3. In many cases a buyer of feeders finds it an advantage 

 to make a cut in a certain consignment. The band may be 

 large, they may be very uneven, or there may be some very 

 undesirable tails (poor, unfinished sheep). These assort- 

 ments or cuts are very frequently allowed on the market. 



4. Western sheep purchased on the market are dipped 

 before they leave for feed yards or farms. This lessens very 

 materially the liability of spreading disease, and is one of 

 the greatest points in favor of market buying. In fact, if 

 not fitted with a dipping tank at home, it is very dangerous 

 to buy direct from the range. 



5. Buyers of sheep on the market get the full advantage 

 of all shrinkage, which is in some cases very heavy. 



The disadvantage of market buying applies especially 

 to the large feeder who handles from one thousand to fifty 

 thousand head, and often finds it impossible to fill his yards 

 profitably when buying in competition with the farmer who 

 wants just a carload or two to clean up his fields and 

 rough stuff. 



Buying from the large country operator. There are men 

 in different parts of the corn belt who feed large numbers 

 of sheep each year, and when purchasing their own often 

 buy a carload or two for their neighbors. 



The advantages of buying sheep from these men are 



1. The sheep are generally contracted during the late sum- 

 mer, and the purchaser knows to a fair degree of certainty 

 the amount of feed he will have on hand, and can figure 

 quite closely what he can afford to pay for the feeders. 



