9 — 
the whole period, or two hundred and twenty-five pounds. 
At $15 per ton, the six hundred pounds of grain would cost 
$4.50 To return four dollars per ton for the hay, the steer 
will have to sell for ninety cents per one hundred pounds 
more than it cost. The question before the feeder is, there¬ 
fore, whether the chances of grain fed cattle selling for 
ninety cents per hundred more than they cost, are greater 
or less than the chances of hay fed cattle advancing fifty 
cents per hundred more than their cost. This is a difficult 
question to answer. The average of the markets for several 
years makes the two systems about equal, and since the hay 
feeding involves the less risk, most Colorado feeders have 
adopted this method. On April 1, 1895, fiay fed steers sold 
for $1.15 per hundred more than they cost cff the range the 
October previous, while the following year the difference 
was but forty-five cents. The markets of these two years 
show that cattle feeding is largely a lottery. The final 
gain or loss depends primarily on the feeder being a good 
buyer, and getting stock that will fatten well at a fair price. 
After this he is at the mercy of the general tendency of the 
market. He may lose on his investment after careful feed- 
ing.and good care, and the market may turn in his favor, as 
it did the winter of 1804-95, and give good returns to even 
poor feeders. 
A question that greatly troubles all cattle feeders is, to 
know what is the best time to sell. It can be said in general 
that there is no ‘‘best” time. I he week of highest prices 
one year may show the lowest prices the following year. 
The consumption of cattle is fairly constant for the whole 
year, and the prices for the same grades of cattle do not 
differ to any great extent; but, owing to the influnce of sup¬ 
ply and demand, the market is varying a little up and down 
all the time. Cattle are bought and fed on so narrow a 
margin that these small variations of twenty-five cents per 
hundred may make all the difference of gain or loss on the 
transaction. 
It is in general true that the longer cattle are kept and 
fed the higher price per pound they will bring in the mar¬ 
ket. So long as there was a large demand for heavy cattle 
for export, there was almost no limit to the weight and fat¬ 
ness that could be put onto steers. Within the last few 
years a change has taken place in the wants of the market. 
There is a smaller demand for heavy, fat 1,600-pound steers, 
and an increasing demand for well fattened 1,100 to 1,500- 
pound animals. This change has been especially marked 
