CHAPTER VI 

 MARKETING THE FAT SHEEP 



We have thus far given our attention to the purchase 

 and feeding of the sheep. We have found that success does 

 not depend upon any one point, but upon the doing of many 

 essentials in the best, most careful, and painstaking way. 

 We now come to a phase of the work that, as a rule, few 

 know little about. The marketing of fat sheep is of no 

 less importance than the finishing of them, so it is well 

 that we weigh carefully the words of those who have done 

 much in solving these problems. 



Profitable marketing. A large number of men who are 

 in a position to answer the question, What are some of 

 the most common mistakes made by inexperienced sheep 

 feeders, have told me that one of the most common mis- 

 takes is the failure to market the sheep fat. The truth 

 of this statement is only too apparent to those who are 

 in a position to observe ; but it would be folly to contend 

 that every fed sheep that goes to market in a condition 

 that will permit another feed, is marketed by the first feeder 

 at a loss, for this is not always the case. Many Middle 

 West farmers buy their sheep early in the fall, run them in 

 the stubble fields, in the cornfields, and on the aftermath 

 of their meadows, make from five to twelve pounds of gain 

 in about sixty days, and then ship to market with from 

 twenty-five to fifty cents per head profit. Such a farmer fig- 

 ures that his sheep have consumed nothing but waste, and 

 all that he receives for them over the actual cash outlay is 



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