Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 139 



cows that would sell the next day as cutters, depending on the fluctua- 

 tions in supply and demand. It is again impossible to fix absolutely 

 the line of division between cutters and canners. One merges with 

 the other. Likewise stockers and feeders cannot be sharply separated. 

 Butcher bulls and bologna bulls furnish still another example. It is 

 possible than an animal might be almost equally eligible to three classes. 

 For instance, a heifer of a certain tj^e and degree of flesh might at 

 some seasons of the year, class among the poorest butcher heifers, the 

 best cutters, or as a stock heifer, with the chances of each about even 

 on an average market. Such a case is not decided until the animal is 

 sold. If a buyer of butcher stuff bids the most, she will be used that 

 way. If the cutter buyer for the packer gets her, she is a cutter. If 

 she is bought by a commission firm for a farmer, she is a stock heifer. 

 She will sell to the highest bidder on that day's market. Thus we see 

 that there is considerable overlapping of classes, and that some cattle 

 cannot be definitely classified until they enter into competition on the 

 market and are sold. 



The market classes and grades of live stock are not official or 

 standardized as are the classes and grades of grain. Grain is commonly 

 bought on grade without inspection by the buyer, but the grading of 

 live stock has not been perfected to this extent. Live stock is bought 

 and sold at the markets in the presence of the buyer and seller, or 

 their agents. So many factors determine the value of an animal and 

 these factors vary so widely that an exact, standardized classing and 

 grading of live stock does not seem possible. Nevertheless, the classifi- 

 cations of live stock which have grown up with the markets serve a 

 useful purpose. They enable buyer, seller, and market reporter to 

 describe particular lots of animals in few words and with considerable 

 accuracy. They are valuable in quoting prices and in reporting the 

 market. Furthermore, a knowledge of the classes and grades enables 

 the live-stock producer to interpret market reports and to gain a fairly 

 accurate knowledge of market values and their fluctuations from day 

 to day. 



Lack of uniformity in classing and grading. — The men engaged in 

 buying and selling on any market diff'er somewhat in their opinions as 

 to the exact requirements of the various classes, and they differ to a 

 considerable degree concerning the requirements of the various grades 

 in each class. They usually agree very closely on the price, yet one 

 prominent buyer may call a certain fat steer a typical "choice" steer, 

 and another equally well-qualified buyer may call him a typical "good" 

 steer. This difference of opinion is largely explained by the fact that 

 they are accustomed to express values in terms of dollars and cents 

 rather than in the grade names used in reporting the markets in the 



