GROWING ANIJ FITTING CATTLE FOR EXIIIIUTION 307 



cession of leading fairs held in contiguous states, and so 

 arranged as the result of conference between represent- 

 atives of the various boards that show animals may be 

 taken from one fair to the next with the least amount of 

 travel in transit. More commonly the fat stock fairs are 

 held in November or early in December, that highly 

 finished meat may come into the market at the Christmas 

 season when it is much in demand. 



September i is the date now generally fixed upon 

 as the period from which the age is determined in the 

 classes mentioned. Suppose that an animal is born Sep- 

 tember I or subsequently, it can show in the calf form 

 or class any time the following year, as a yearling any 

 time the next year, and as a two-year-old any time the 

 year next following. Thus a calf born as stated, if shown 

 in August, would be exhibited in the calf class when 

 not quite a year old, and it would still show in the calf 

 class until more than 15 months old. The same would 

 be true of animals in the one-year form, which could 

 show as yearlings until more than 27 months old, and 

 of two-year-olds which could show as such until more 

 than 39 months old. But should the animal be born 

 one day before September i, it could not be exhibited 

 in the calf class at all. It must be shown as a yearling 

 the first year that it appears in the ring and as a two- 

 year-old the second year. 



Since it is not always possible to control the age 

 at which calves will be born, and since, in many in- 

 stances, calves which show much excellence subse- 

 quently, will come into existence at a period much later 

 than September i, it is manifest that these will be shown 

 at a disadvantage when pitted against animals that are 

 considerably older. To meet this difficulty, many lead- 

 ing fairs have opened two classes for exhibiting in the 

 calf form and also in the yearling form, but not in the 

 two-year form. These are known as the senior and 

 junior classes. The date from which the age is counted 



