336 HISTORY OF SHEEP FEEDING IN UNITED STATES 



screenings, being a waste product, were very cheap. Screenings-fed 

 sheep and lambs soon became very popular with the packers and 

 commanded good prices. The result was that the business of sheep 

 and lamb feeding netted large profits. 



The Day of the Large Operators. The men who built large 

 yards and fed great numbers of sheep were known as the large 

 operators. Most of them were located near the cities which had 

 large flour mills, but some established themselves in Kansas and 

 Nebraska, where corn and hay were cheap. Their business was 

 speculative in nature, and it was easy to determine whether or not 

 profits were made. So long as both feeds and feeder animals were 

 cheap and there was a margin of two dollars or more per hundred- 

 weight between the purchase and sale price of the sheep the business 

 could not help being profitable. Its profitableness awakened the 

 interest of people not only in the feeding of sheep, but also in 

 screenings, the feed that was being so successfully used in the process 

 of fattening. As a result, the demand for feeders increased and 

 prices for them advanced. Other uses were found for screenings, 

 and they, too, advanced in price. Therefore it was not long before 

 the large operators had to give close attention to their sheep feed- 

 ing in order to make it profitable. Following these changes they 

 could not make profits and, worse still, many failed financially. 



It is now more than a decade since the majority of the large 

 operators around the great flour-making centers ceased operations. 

 Occasionally a few attempt feeding in a large way at the accumu- 

 lating centers which are located near the large markets on the rail- 

 roads that lead in from the West. These extensive feeders may 

 or may not use screenings. As a rule they are preferred, but the 

 price placed on them may make it necessary to select some other 

 feed. When prices for corn and hay drop considerably below the 

 normal level in Kansas and Nebraska a little sheep feeding is done 

 on the old-time plan. Colorado is the only place where large 

 operators now feed regularly, and it is doubtful whether they will 

 continue for many years more because the time has come when 

 they cannot be fully assured of profits from the business (Fig. 204). 



From the foregoing statements it is evident that the day of the 

 large operator in sheep feeding is practically over. There should 

 be no regret, for sheep feeding properly belongs to those who raise 

 a part or all of the feed. 



