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- 
