21 
A study of the tables will show that the top of the 
market for lambs has not been below five cents a pound during April 
and May for the last four years, while there has been some time in each 
year that it has been over six cents and the average of each year has been 
above five and a half cents. An average price of five cents will pay 
all expenses and return market prices for hay and grain, provided the 
lambs have been well bought in the fall and fed without waste. The 
prices show then that, if the future is to be judged by the past, a 
feeder who has used good judgment in his buying and feeding so as 
to have first-quality sheep, is sure of not losing anything on the April 
or May market, even if he happens to hit the poorest days. His 
chances are even for finding a market that will give him a fair profit 
and are good for striking a market that will prove a bonanza. 
A noteworthy fact in regard to the prices for 1894-95 is the high 
price for March as compared with April and May. The same thing 
happened in 1891-92. This is just when the eastern sheep are dimin¬ 
ishing in supply and before the western sheep are in prime condition. 
Though it would hardly be safe to feed for this market, yet it shows 
that it might possibly prove the most profitable of the year. 
The prices show conclusively that the May market is the safest of 
all. Though the last half of the month is so little better than the 
first that most feeders prefer to begin shipping early in the month 
and close out their flocks during the latter half. The feeders on a 
small scale will find May 15 to 20 the safest market of the year. 
What has been said of lambs applies in general to older sheep 
that can be held late in the season. But they fatten so much more 
quickly than lambs and have wool so much thicker that, in the general 
run, April had better be substituted for May as the best time for 
marketing. The time of marketing, therefore, will determine the 
kind of sheep to get, or, the sheep having been obtained, they will 
determine for themselves the time at which they should be marketed. 
Of everything, except southern lambs, it can be said in general 
that the sheep should be crowded from the day they are put in the 
feeding pens and marketed as soon as fat. Southern lambs come here 
when they are only five or six months old and need to have consider¬ 
able more growth of frame put on them before they are fattened. 
All sheep except the southern lambs can be prepared for market 
in four months; old ewes and wethers in three months. The southern 
lambs require at least five months, and it has been found that, on the 
average, six months is more profitable. 
It will be seen that, if a man wants to feed for the May market, 
which is considered the best market of the year, he has his choice be¬ 
tween taking southern lambs in November or waiting until much 
later and then taking western lambs or old sheep. A bunch of 3,500 
western lambs came to Fort Collins from the west in March that had 
beeh wintered on the range, and, with three months’ feeding, were in 
good condition for the market. This is an exception; the range upon 
