MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF SHEEP. 609 



more the carcass of the buck.. resembles that of the wether, the 

 more satisfactorily will it serve its purpose. The smooth buck of 

 tidy form with a light neck, high quality, and thick, firm flesh, sells 

 best. See plate 24. 



FEEDER SHEEP 



It must be obvious to everyone that the one thing which de- 

 termines whether a sheep or lamb belongs to the feeder class, is 

 condition. Whenever sheep are too low in condition to suit the 

 needs of the packer they fall into the feeder class, unless they be 

 extremely coarse in quality or weakened in vitality because of dis- 

 ease or advanced age. 



The heavy run of feeder sheep occurs in the months of Sep- 

 tember, October and November, when rangemen are reducing 

 their flocks and preparing for the winter months. However buy- 

 ers are constantly looking for thrifty, underfinished stuff and a 

 limited number of feeder sheep go out from the markets every 

 week in the year. As the shearing season approaches buyers of 

 feeders from Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois make strong 

 bids for well wooled lambs. Such lambs usually make large gains 

 immediately after being shorn, and thus are made prime in con- 

 dition in a short period. 



Practically all the sheep sold as feeders are grown on the west- 

 ern ranges. Occasionally a few natives are taken out as feeders 

 but so rarely and in such small numbers that they cannot be listed 

 as belonging to the feeder class. Experience has taught sheep feed- 

 ers that the thin natives on our large markets are, for reasons al- 

 ready mentioned, rarely profitable in the feed-lot. 



The following are the recognized sub-classes of feeder sheep: 

 LAMBS, YEARLINGS, WETHERS, EWES. 



FEEDER LAMBS 



Feeder lambs are those thin in flesh left after sorting out those 

 in a band in suitable condition for the mutton trade. A great per- 

 centage of the feeder lambs reaching the markets fall into that class 

 because of certain influences under which they have been placed. 

 It may be that they have had an unequal chance with those in 

 highest condition in the band on account of not being so well nour- 

 ished by their dams; they may have been born too late to reach 

 that degree of condition, finish, and weight demanded by the 

 packer ; or, they may have been held too long at the shipping 

 place on the range or on the road by poor train service without 

 the necessary amount of feed, so that the deterioration in condition 

 placed what would have been mutton lambs in the feeder class. 



The grades recognized on the market are: FANCY SELECTED, 

 Goon. MT^DTTIM. COMMOTST m? 



