82 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



July inclusive, monthly receipts are smaller and quite uniform. (These 

 months included all of the low points during the ten years.) Over 50 

 per cent more cattle are received at Chicago in October than in April, 

 but monthly receipts of cattle are less variable than those of sheep or 

 hogs, as may be noted by comparing Fig. 21 with Fig. 81 and Fig. 

 132. 



As shown in the chart, about 64 per cent of the cattle received at 

 Chicago are slaughtered there, 23.5 per cent are shipped to other points 

 for slaughter, and 12.5 per cent are returned to the country for feeding. ^ 

 In September, October, November, and December, the movement of 

 feeders is at its height. During these four months 17 per cent of the 

 cattle received at Chicago are sold for feeding purposes, and these con- 

 stitute over 50 per cent of the total number of feeder cattle shipped 

 from Chicago during the year. The feeder outlet helps to maintain 

 prices for all cattle during the season of large receipts. Most feeders 

 are fattened and returned to market before June 1, thus helping to 

 maintain supplies during the season of light receipts. 



Movements of live stock are largely controlled by such factors as 

 the limits of the grazing season, the maturity of crops for feeding, 

 distribution of labor, etc., and it is not advisable that monthly ship- 

 ments of cattle to market shall be equalized, yet it is at the same time 

 true that a more even distribution is, within limits, desirable to both 

 producer and consumer. 



Early cattle markets.-^A century ago cattle markets were small 

 and largely local in character. The "West" at that time was com- 

 prised of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. There were no railroads, no 

 live-stock cars, no refrigerator cars, no steamships, and no large live- 

 stock markets. Every large town had its own stock yards or cattle 

 market to which cattle were driven from the surrounding country and 

 sold to butchers. In time, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and 

 Baltimore became rather large markets, and in some instances cattle 

 were driven long distances to supply them. 



Early methods of transportation .r — This was before the days of 

 railroads, and even after the railroads came, very few live animals were 

 carried until about 1860. Prior to 1850, it was the general practice to 

 drive live stock to market on foot. At that time, in many parts of the 

 country, pasturage was free along the routes, and the animals were 

 driven by easy stages, reaching market without very much deprecia- 

 tion. George Renick, of Ohio, was perhaps the first man to find an 

 outlet for cattle fattened in what was then "The West." In 1805, 

 against the advice of his neighbors, he successfully drove 68 head of 



lAt 67 markets about 20 per cent of all cattle and calves are sold for feeding. 

 U. S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook, 1921, p. 286. 



