STOCK RAISING AND SOIL FERTILITY 



209 



the crate in which hay may be stuffed, 

 which sheep or calves may nibble at 

 leisure. A small V-shaped trough may 

 also be placed in the end of the crate, in 

 which grain may be fed. If these addi- 

 tions to the crate are provided, the 

 agents along the line will see that the 

 stock is watered. 



"Shipping crates should be neither 

 too large nor too small, just giving room 

 for the animal to stand erect comfort- 

 ably; the width should be only 3 inches 

 greater than the 'width of the body at 

 the hips and shoulders; much room is 

 objectionable. Animals firmly crated 

 with suitable feed accompanying can 

 be expressed from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, with no trouble or injury under 



practice in some of the corn belt states. 

 Where a breeder has only a small num- 

 ber of animals he may unite with one 

 or more other breeders and hold an 

 auction in some central place conven- 

 iently reached by railroad. 



Method of conducting auction sales 

 — In these auction sales, the advertising 

 and the arrangements for the accommo- 

 dation of buyers, etc, is usually left to 

 the auctioneer, who receives a commis- 

 sion on the sales made. Advertisements 

 of these auction sales may be found in 

 nearly every week's issue of the more 

 important stock papers. Stockmen 

 looking for auctioneers will also find 

 the business cards of these men in the 

 stock papers. 



Fig. 151- 



WATER FOWLS at a faik 



ordinary shipping conditions. Crates 

 should be light yet strong." 



In doing a mail order business it will 

 be necessary to advertise continuously 

 in a number of the better stock papers. 

 Many breeders have built up envious 

 reputations in the mail order business 

 by sending out a high grade of stock, 

 fulfilling in every respect their adver- 

 tisements. 



Auction sales — Sale at public auction 

 frequently offers a very satisfactory way 

 of disposing of stock. In all the larger 

 cities and many of the larger towns, 

 there are public auction sales of horses 

 and sometimes of cattle. 



Breeders of pure-bred stock fre- 

 quently dispose of their surplus animals 

 by auction. This is quite a common 



The auction sale is one of the best 

 ways of disposing of surplus pure-bred 

 stock and is particularly advantageous 

 for the small breeder, as he receives 

 considerable advertising through associa- 

 tion with the large breeders and has an 

 opportunity to exhibit his stock to a 

 large number of buyers. 



European auction sales — In many of 

 the European towns there are regular 

 days on which stock of all kinds are 

 offered for auction. At Hereford, an old 

 English town of about 20,000 inhabi- 

 tants, the auction is regularly held on 

 Wednesdays. They are largely attended 

 by butchers, farmers, stock buyers, etc. 

 The animals are brought in from sur- 

 rounding districts, or are shipped in, 

 and buyers have opportunities to inspect 



