CHRISTMAS BEEF 



S7 



The so-called Christmas market for such cattle is 

 made by three classes of buyers. Buyers for local 

 slaughter, as, for example, in the Chicago market the 

 packers; order buyers for shipment to other cities; 

 and exporters. The proper time to market Christmas 

 cattle is from about November 23 to December 15. 

 Between these dates buyers for local slaughter, shipment, 

 and export are on the market until their orders are filled. 

 Exporters who buy for the foreign holiday trade usually 



Fig. 9. Prime standing rib of Christmas quality. 



buy most of their cattle from November 25 to 27, al- 

 though these dates may vary a little one way or the other, 

 depending upon the days of the week on which export 

 boats sail for foreign ports. Ordinarily, exporters 

 take from one-fourth to one-third of the total supply of 

 Christmas cattle offered on the Chicago market. The 

 larger proportion of holiday beef is exported alive, and 

 for this purpose cattle possessing fancy quality and 

 thick fat, weighing from 1300 to 1500 pounds are 

 wanted. From 1300 to 1400 pounds is the popular 

 weight, although they use some prime 1100 to 1200 

 pound cattle for that trade and a few weighing as much 



