116 Western Live-stock Management 



of buyers, should offer at least fifty and preferably sev- 

 enty-five or eighty head of good cattle. The larger 

 breeders often put on auctions of their own cattle where 

 they have enough to justify it. In other cases breeders' 

 associations, either the national Shorthorn or Hereford 

 associations or local organizations, put on combination 

 sales in which many breeders will consign their cattle. 

 For small breeders located at some distance from the 

 beef-producing centers, the latter method of sale is very 

 desirable, as it enables them to secure as good prices as 

 the larger man and cuts down materially the cost of ad- 

 vertising, which on a small herd is a heavy burden. Re- 

 gardless of the class of cattle or location, advertising is 

 always essential to the success of a pure-bred herd. By 

 advertising is meant advertising in the broader sense of 

 making one's product known to the public. Whether this 

 be through word of mouth, reputation of the herd, a record 

 of the show rings, high prices obtained at sales, or through 

 newspaper advertising, the effect is the same. It makes 

 the herd known and talked about among persons who 

 may be purchasers. The various fairs and stock shows, 

 ranging from county fairs to the Chicago International, 

 are big factors in the pure-bred cattle business. They 

 enable the breeders to come together and compare stock 

 and thus better their judgment. They also accomplish 

 much to advertise the stock of exhibitors among the 

 other breeders and with the public at large. For a breeder 

 who is ambitious to have the reputation of producing only 

 the best, there is no advertising so effective as a record of 

 successful winnings at the fairs. A man who wins an 

 important prize at the state fair not only wins a small 

 money consideration, but obtains free advertising which 

 would cost him many dollars if secured through the ad- 



