148 Western Live-stock Management 



dence of mutton blood. Straight Merino wethers usually 

 fall in this class. Mutton lambs are consigned in carload • 

 lots to commission firms at the stock yards, who sell 

 them to the buyers of various meat companies. 



MARKETING PURE-BEED STOCK 



The general practice in the case of pure-bred stock is 

 to hold them over a year and market them as yearlings. 

 A few are marketed as lambs but this is not the usual 

 practice. Pure-bred stock is offered for sale either by 

 private treaty, private auction, or public auction. In 

 the first method, the buyers come singly to the ranch and 

 dicker with the owner. Arrangements as to price, pay- 

 ment, and delivery are made which are more or less sat- 

 isfactory to both parties. Private auctions are held only 

 in cases in which a party has large numbers of sheep to 

 sell. Public auctions are usually held under the auspices 

 of some organization such as the National Wool Growers, 

 the Breed Associations, and the like. A certain percentage 

 to cover expenses of the sale is charged on all stock sold. 

 Auction sales, whether private or public, have advantages 

 to both the buyer and the seller. The buyer has a large 

 number to select from and has a chance to secure just what 

 he wants. The seller has a fairly good chance to obtain 

 a good price for his stock. Competitive bidding tends to 

 run prices up. This is particularly true of good stock. 



CALENDAR OF OPERATIONS ON THE RANGE 



In the following calendar, the time will be gi^•en by sea- 

 son and the operations will be named in the order in which 

 they are performed : 



