SELECTING STEERS FOR FEEDING 19 



to let some one else raise the feeder if the operator's land is 

 high priced. 



Buying Feeders in the Country from people who raise good 

 beef calves and do not wish to feed is a more difficult procedure 

 than it was some years ago because the dairy interests have en- 

 croached strongly upon the territory where good beef calves were 

 then raised. 



The man who milks his cows, and desires to keep only his best 

 female stock, sells his steer calves, and thus produces a scarcity of 

 steers in his community. Not only that, but the introduction of 

 dairy bred bulls into the communities has greatly lowered the 

 beef making quality of the calves that can be obtained, and the 

 buyer has to travel over more territory to get material to feed or 

 graze. 



Buying Feeders from a Local Dealer or Scalper is often a better 

 way to get local feeders than to take the time to hunt for them. 

 The scalper is a man who makes it his business to keep tab on 

 stock throughout a radius of from five to twenty miles. He also 

 keeps in close touch with the men who want steers, and acts as a 

 middleman between them and the producers of steers. A pecu- 

 liar feature of this method is that men who want steers can gen- 

 erally buy them cheaper from the scalper than they could have 

 bought them from the producers, even after the scalper has 

 allowed himself sufficient commission. 



The cattle are also generally better sorted as to size, type, and 

 quality than the operators can get them unless they take larger 

 numbers and sort out the culls. The scalper takes all kinds and 

 sorts them into as nearly uniform lots as possible. He can do this 

 somewhat better than can the man who wants to feed, because he 

 devotes his entire time to the work and knows where he can dis- 

 pose of the less desirable cattle. 



Buying Feeders on the Open Market has the advantage of 

 giving the purchaser the benefit of a possible heavy run of such 

 cattle which must be disposed of, and the disadvantage of being 

 thrown into competition with other buyers not only with those 

 looking for feeders, but if the supply of killers is short, with those 

 looking for butcher stuff. This method is the best for men who 

 live near the market and who live in communities where few cat- 

 tle are raised. The range of choice in selection is much wider on 

 the market than elsewhere, and it is possible to get greater uni- 

 formity of type, quality, and weight in the cattle. 



