138 American Cattle Markets and the Dressed Beef Trade. 
As said above, buying and selling goes on every day except 
Sunday, wliile Saturday has come to be looked upon as a sort of 
settling day for the week. While, of course, cattle come in at all 
hours of the day, it is the object of the railroads to land them in 
the Yards from four o'clock to eight in the morning. A very 
large number of the cattle come out of first hands ; but the 
majority are consigned by dealers, who pick them up in small 
bunches in the country, except in the case of range cattle, which 
are practically consigned by the owners. The hog market opens 
early, and is pretty well over by ten o'clock. There are scattering 
sales after that hour, but the majority of the work is finished 
at the above-mentioned time. The sheep market is confined 
vei'y much to the morning also; while trading in cattle, as a rule, 
opens about nine o'clock and goes on more or less up till three 
p.m., when the whistle blows and business is suspended for the 
day. When it is considered that for the five active working days 
of the week we receive about 10,000 cattle a day, over and above 
hogs and sheep, the gigantic nature of the business can be esti- 
mated ; but a man needs to be actually upon the spot to judge 
even approximately of how business is carried on. The Stock 
Yards Company employ about 1,000 men ; there are about 120 
commission men, who must also employ about 1,000 assistants ; 
add to this about 300 buyers, and it can well be imagined that 
from eight o'clock in the morning till three in the afternoon 
the Stock Yards present a very active scene. There are, more- 
over, hundreds of owners who practically become interested 
spectators of the work as it progresses, while every day a great 
crowd of sightseers put in an appearance. The office-work is 
mostly confined to the Exchange Building, where the Stock Yards 
Company, the commission men, the railroad companies, the 
buyers, &c., have suitable offices. A substantial bank also occu- 
pies a very handsome office in the same building. 
As soon as the cattle are delivered to the commission men, 
their work begins. Hay is immediately ordered for the cattle ; 
quantities of course vary, but as a rule prime cattle eat about 
5 lbs. each ; common cattle, 7-^ lbs. ; and range cattle get an 
allowance of 10 lbs. each. The water is turned into troughs, 
and if the cattle have been properly handled on the road, 
they take a good fill. Very often cattle have to be sorted and 
classed, and this, as a rule, is done before the water is turned 
into the troughs. As in other cattle markets both at home and 
abroad, supply and demand regulate to a great extent the 
price, and when the buyer appears early on the scene it is pretty 
good evidence of an active market. During last summer, when 
prices were 30 per cent, above those ruling at present, the buyera 
