MARKETABLE CONDITION 125 



portant part is the general supply and demand of the 

 market at a given time. A degree of condition that 

 might yield the largest profit at one time with a strong 

 and high market might not be the condition for greatest 

 profit when the cattle market is weak and low. This 

 whole question cannot be intelligently answered without 

 an intimate knowledge of at least the following factors: 



1. Age of cattle. 



2. Quality or breeding of cattle. 



3. Condition of market. 



4. The relative cost of putting cattle in prime condi- 

 tion as compared with the cost of merely warming them 

 up and also of the so-called half-fat condition. 



These points are not capable of other than the most 

 general treatment. 



As regards age, it may be said that it is extremely 

 difficult to get a steer under two years of age too fat to 

 suit the trade, and within certain reasonable limits such a 

 young steer, if well bred, may usually be put in prime 

 condition profitably, providing market prices and cost of 

 feeds and feeders are such that there is profit in handling 

 that kind of cattle at all. With the three or four-year- 

 old steer the situation is entirely changed. The process 

 of feeding a steer of such an age, until he is prime in con- 

 dition is an expensive job and will not usually pay 

 unless such animal is well bred. This suggests that as 

 a general proposition, cattle of the commoner grades 

 (speaking now only of their quality or breeding) do not 

 require or acquire as high a finish as the better bred ones. 

 The degree of finish which should be aimed at in any 

 particular instance will depend upon the condition of 

 the market and the cost of feeds. Obviously when feed 

 is high and fat cattle are low, the securing of high finish 

 is usually attended with loss, whereas if both feed and 

 cattle are low there might be a possibility of profit 

 following the securing of high finish. If cattle are high 

 and feed high, providing feeders have been purchased 

 at a reasonable price and the quality is good, it usually 



