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-BRED 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 tothe 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 given by sea- 
son and the operations will be named in the order in which 
they are performed : 
