100 Western Lnve-stock Management 
chute so that the cattle may be run on them without 
difficulty or inconvenience. It is often as hard to put 
a steer on the scales as it is to get him into the branding 
chute. The scales, moreover, must be placed in such a 
manner that the stock-rack may be removed and wagons 
driven on. The make or kind of scale is not so important, 
as nearly all of the standard scales now on the market 
give very good satisfaction. Between the pitless scale 
and the pit scales, when one is buying, it is largely a 
question of which kind one can afford. The old type of 
pit scales probably last longer and give rather better 
service than the pitless ones, but they cost more. Not 
only is the first cost of the scales greater, but the cost of 
installing pit scales will be equal to the original cost of the 
scales. After the scales are properly installed, the rack 
for holding the stock must next be prepared. There are 
various plans for building these racks, but the good ones 
are very much alike. The essential point is strength. 
In building a rack for weighing cattle, it is a safe rule to 
build one about three times as strong as seems necessary. 
The common method of building is to use + X 4’s for the 
posts, using four or five ona side. The method of bracing 
and putting on the siding is shown in Fig. 10. For siding, 
1 X 6’s about two inches apart at the bottom should be 
used and gradually widened until they are about six inches 
apart at the top. It is the common practice to make a 
gate at each end of the scale-rack so that the cattle may 
be run in at one gate and out at the other, but this is not 
absolutely necessary, since the corrals may be so arranged 
that the cattle may be put out at the same gate they came 
in but into a different corral from that from which they 
came. By having only one gate, the rack may be made 
considerably lighter and at the same time very much 
