down. The price of these cattle may indeed be forced below 

 that of seasons of more abundant and cheaper corn, but as 

 soon as this run is over the market invariably recovers and is 

 strong for well finished beeves until the partially fattened cat- 

 tle of another corn crop reach the market and even until well 

 finished cattle from the new corn crop are offered. 



The Buying Margin as Affected by the Condition of the Cattle 

 When Bought. 



Naturally the condition of the animals when purchased 

 will affect the cost of the gains to be made, and therfore the 

 buying margin required to pay out. The thinner the animals 

 are when purchased, so long as they are thrifty, the less the 



A VERY THIN STEER OF GOOD QUALITY, BUT REQUIR- 

 ING A RELATIVELY LARGE MARGIN ON ACCOUNT OF 

 THE LENGTH OF TIME REQUIRED TO MAKE HIM FAT. 

 THE RAISER THUS SUSTAINS A DOUBLE Loss: 

 FIRST, IN Loss OF WEIGHT OF THE ANIMAL, AND 

 SECOND, IN THE Low PRICE FOR WHICH HE MUST 

 BE SOLD TO ENABLE THE FEEDER TO COME OUT 

 WITH A PROFIT. 



average cost per pound of gain will be for the whole feeding 

 operation, but the longer it will take of course to put them in a 

 marketable condition. Other things being equal, a larger mar- 

 gin per month will be required on partially fat cattle than on 

 very thin cattle. Or, if 20 cents a month for the entire feed- 

 ing period would return a profit for very thin cattle requiring 

 to be fed six months, a bunch of similar but half fat cattle 



