84 Western Live-stock Management 



being sold, but in spite of this they will lack considerable 

 of weighing as much as at home. A steer which weighs 

 1200 pounds when just out of the feed-lot and full of feed 

 and water would be shrunk 4 per cent when sold to be 

 shipped, which would make the shipper pay for 1152 

 pounds. After the steer has been on the train twenty- 

 four hours and has been unloaded and filled with feed 

 and water, he will not weigh over 1125 and perhaps only 

 1100. After a long shipment of five or six days, he will 

 probably weigh between 1050 and 1100, probably about 

 1075. In shipping, from twenty to thirty steers are placed 

 in the car, the average being twenty-five. There should 

 be room enough so that if one lies down he can get up 

 again. Eastbound rates are for 24,000 pounds in a car, 

 whether you have that much in or not, and this means 

 twenty 1200-pound steers, which will about fill an ordinary 

 car. Westbound freight rates, however, are quoted at 

 so much for each 36|--foot car, regardless of the number 

 in the car. In this case, the shipper, to save expense, 

 loads heavier than he otherwise would. If possible, one 

 should secure a car with good racks and fill the racks well 

 with hay ; and one also should be sure the cars are well 

 sanded. The watering troughs found on most cars are 

 out of order and utterly useless. 



According to the ruling of the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 cattle in interstate shipments cannot be kept on the tram 

 longer than twenty-eight hours without unloading and 

 feeding, except on written request, when they may remain 

 thirty-six hours. The feeding en route is done at regular 

 feeding stations which cater to this trade and which supply 

 the necessary feed and water at a stated price. The rail- 

 roads pay for this feed en route but collect from the shipper 

 when the cattle are unloaded. There are feed yards at 



