18 BEEF PRODUCTION 



time may be allowed to pass by the cattle feeder be- 

 cause he believes there will come a better time. Then, 

 too, the majority feel that they must buy about a cer- 

 tain time in order to use economically available pastur- 

 age or roughage. The most common practice is to buy 

 feeding cattle in the fall and early winter. It is believed 

 that two-thirds of the feeding cattle are purchased dur- 

 ing the fall and early winter months. This fact has 

 come about naturally enough. Breeders of feeding 

 cattle usually unload before winter sets in. If the sea- 

 son has been favorable, rendering pasturage abundant, 

 and if winter does not set in until late, liberal arrivals 

 of feeding cattle are likely to be late in reaching the 

 feeding cattle markets. On the other hand, if a general 

 drought or other unfavorable conditions prevail, it will 

 cause a liberal marketing of cattle, which generally 

 results in cheaper values for thin stock. Besides the 

 cheapness of feeding cattle at seasons when cattle are 

 plentiful, there is that other important advantage of 

 being able to select more uniform feeders. There is, of 

 course, the seeming necessity of purchasing feeding cattle 

 in the fall or early winter if a large amount of roughage 

 is to be used for the maintenance of cattle and the 

 production of beef. Practically all those who do not 

 buy their feeding cattle in the fall buy in the spring. 

 The market at this season is usually higher, but where 

 cheap roughage and good winter quarters are not avail- 

 able it is usually better practice to pay the extra prices 

 in the spring than to attempt to winter such cattle 

 under unfavorable conditions that are sure to render 

 the practice unprofitable. 



WHERE TO BUY 



The answer to this question will depend largely upon 

 the locality in which the cattle are to be fed and the ex- 

 tent to which the feeder is engaged in the business. Ex- 

 tensive cattle feeders, and by this we refer to those who 



