374 



Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



causes. They are used in the manufacture of grease, soap, and fer- 

 tilizer. If they weigh 100 pounds or over, they bring the fertilizer 

 price. If they weigh less, they are held in payment of the cost of 

 handling and the shipper gets no return. Actual count of dead stock 

 removed from cars at Chicago, as made by the U. S. Bureau of Animal 

 Industry for a period of two years, showed the number to be 1 out of 

 2,500 cattle, 1 out of 164 calves, 1 out of 526 sheep, and 1 out of 244 

 hogs. ^ 



Summary. — The accompanying chart indicates the relationship of 

 the various market classes of hogs as based on the factors of weight 

 and quality. Beginning at 50 pounds, the minimum weight for pigs, 



Weight! 



Hogs of good quality 



Hogs of inferior quality 

 or mixed 



250 



220 

 200 

 l^'O 



160 

 150 



50 

 Fig. 139. — Classification of market hogs according to quality and weight. 



there is a continuous succession of classes to which good hogs are 

 eligible, ranging upward to the heaviest weights. Hogs of these classes 

 may be received and sold in straight carloads, they may be sorted out 

 of mixed loads purchased by traders, or they may be included in the 

 mixed loads sold to local packers. Straight or sorted loads of good 

 hogs are most frequently sold for shipment to other points for slaughter 

 or for feeding. Hogs sold to order buyers for shipment to other points 

 for slaughter are referred to in some market reports as "shippers," but 

 this is an indefinite term, as the hogs in demand for shipping may be 

 of several market classes. 



lU. S. Dept. Agr. Rpt. 113, p. 35. 



