212 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



Horses sold at private sale generally 

 command better prices than if sold at 

 auction, although there are many ex- 

 ceptions to this rule, the spirit of the 

 bidder creating competition, and buyers, 

 relying on one another's judgment, bid 

 the offering up. 



"All kinds of vehicles and appliances 

 are at hand to show horses according 

 to their several uses, either as drafters, 

 drivers, or saddlers, and all sales are 

 void if the animals fail to perform ac- 

 cording to the recommendation. 



"The animal sold must have all the 

 qualities named by the auctioneer at the 

 time of the sale. Any horse falling 

 short of the recommendation on which 

 lie is sold, can be rejected, but the pur- 

 chaser must examine and try the animal 

 within the time specified in the rules. 



"The rules of the exchange require 

 the payment of a uniform price of 60 

 cents a day for feed charges on horses 

 sold in the market. No charge is made 

 for. watering, bedding and grooming. If 

 the horse's tail is to be soaked, or tail 

 and mane braided, extra pay must be 

 given to men not in the employ of the 

 stock yards company." 



Shipping to market — When the 

 grower has sufficient stock to ship to 

 market in carload lots, he can usually 

 get more than by selling in the local 

 markets. The great stock markets of 

 the country are Chicago, Kansas City, 

 Buffalo, Omaha, St. Joseph, Mo., In- 

 dianapolis, Cincinnati, Jersey City and 

 St. Paul, Minn. The number of horses, 

 cattle, sheep and hogs shipped into five 

 of the- largest of these markets in 1904 

 is shown in the table below: 



RECEIPT OP LIVE STOCK AT THE LEADING STOCK YARDS OF THE UNITED STATES 



IN 1904 



Horses 

 and 



mules 



Chicago, HI 105,949 



Kansas City, Kan 67,562 



Buffalo, N. Y 54,300 



Omaha, Neb 46,845 



St. Joseph, Mo 28,704 



The table shows that by fpr the larg- 

 est number of animals were shipped into 

 Chicago. The Chicago stock market is 

 not only the largest market in the 

 United States, but the largest stock 

 market in the world. Buffalo stands out 

 conspicuous as a hog and sheep market. 



Market for everything — At these 

 large stock centers, a market may be 

 found for every grade and kind of ani- 

 mal grown on the farm, every day in the 

 year. The large packing houses of the 

 corn belt are located at these stock cen- 

 ters and for one purpose and another 

 can utilize every kind and condition of 

 farm animals. Many of the animals 

 shipped into a great market like Chicago 

 are killed. A large number are re- 

 shipped as feeders or stockers and many 

 are exported alive to Europe. Of the 

 cattle shipped into Chicago in 1905, 

 41 per cent were reshipped for some of 

 these various purposes. Over 28 per cent 

 of the sheep received were reshipped 

 and about 26 per cent of the hogs. 



Shipping dead or alive_p ra ctically 

 all animals sent to the larger markets 

 are shipped alive. The exceptions to 



this may be early winter lambs, veal 

 calves and poultry, which are often 

 shipped dressed, or in the case of lambs 

 and calves with the entrails out, but the 

 hides still on. It is not usually profit- 

 able to ship dressed cattle, hogs or sheep 

 to any of the larger city markets, since 

 these markets are supplied by the big 

 packing houses, and it is absolutely im- 

 possible for the farmer to prepare as 

 nice looking and as high a grade of 

 meat as can be produced by the packing 

 houses, because he has' not the facilities 

 for killing, dressing and curing, nor the 

 skill. 



System in butchering — On the farm, 

 or in the small towns, one or two men 

 may do all the work on an animal from 

 killing to cutting up, while in the pack- 

 ing house 150 or more men would be 

 employed on the various details of this 

 work. Each man has a particular piece 

 of work to do and learns to do it in 

 the most skillful manner. If a wrong 

 cut is made it can be traced back to 

 the man who did it. After the work 

 of dressing is completed, the meat at 

 the packing houses can then be run into 



