The West 27 
River, Chicago, and finally on toward the eastern ports 
of New York and Boston, some of the meat even going 
across the Atlantic to the big consuming centers of Eu- 
rope. The general drift of all live-stock from the Rocky 
Mountains, and to some extent from west of that region, 
is eastward, in other words, from the centers of produc- 
tion toward the centers of consumption. In the western 
country, there are certain local centers of consumption 
which take a portion of the live-stock. These centers 
are Seattle, Portland, Spokane, San Francisco, and Los 
Angeles, of which the larger are Portland, Seattle, and 
San Francisco. Portland, Spokane, and Seattle handle 
all the stock from Oregon and Washington and part of 
the stock from Idaho and Montana. San Francisco and 
Los Angeles handle the California stock and some from 
Nevada. Denver is an important market but is really 
a part of the eastern system and the trade is largely con- 
fined to stockers and feeders on their way to the pastures 
and feed lots of the Corn-Belt. The shipments of stock 
vary according to the season and the kind of stock. In 
the fall all kinds of stock are more abundant than at other 
times. The surplus is, therefore, obliged to go to the 
eastern markets. The western markets all have to com- 
pete with the eastern markets along their boundary line, 
and hence the prices follow eastern quotations, with such 
variations as may be necessary to account for the differ- 
ence in freight. These small western markets help ma- 
terially, but it is the Chicago and Missouri River markets 
that really fix the price. The prices of western stock are, 
therefore, with a few exceptions, Chicago prices less the 
expenses of shipment. In any comparison of the live- 
stock industry of the West and of the central states, this 
difference of price must not be forgotten. 
