Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-07-04
A Few Hints on the Sale of Neat
Cattle.

After all the attention and labor which
the grazier may have bestowed, his ex-
pectations will, to considerable degree,
be disappointed, unless he selects proper
time for the disposal of his fat cattle.
The most common season for grass-fed
beef is from September to Christmas; /;
but the markets are then more abundantly
and more cheaply supplied than at any
other period, because cattle that have
been fattened on luxuriant pasture grounds
are then ready for sale, and many farmers
are under the necessity of raising money
in order to meet the demands of the close
of the year. Hence the attentive grazier,
who has sufficient capital to hold his stock
over, will find it more beneficial, at this
time, to dispose only of such part as,
being thoroughly fat, would not pay for
longer keeping. The increase of prices
in the spring will generally be found to
remunerate him WELL During the whole
of the winter, large heavy cattle are in
much request in Eastern cities, and will
produce remunerating prices; but at
other times they hang on hand, and fetch
an inferior price. Middle-s1zed handsome
cattle, or those not exceeding fourteen
hundred or sixteen hundred pounds, will
find the most ready sale. Under eight
hundred pounds there is a prejudice
against them, unless the meat is particu-
larly good.
In drawing off lots of cattle for sale, it
is the general practice to dispose of the
fattest animals, and to keep those which
do not fatten kindly for additional feed
ing. AS general rule this is proper; but
there will occasionally be exceptions to it.
If oil-cake, or any other expensive article,
is to be used for fattening, or there
is a probability of an insufficient
supply, and he is fully convinced that he
has beast that is not kindly disposed
to take on fat, or is an iU-dOer, the .frsl
loss is obviously the best, and he should
dispose of the unthrifty animal at the
earliest opportunity.
In the country, common mode of sell
ing cattle for slaughter is by lots; and in
this case, in order to prevent dispute be.
tween the parties, care should be taken to
| fix the precise time in which any particu-
| lar lot is to be drawn, in order that no un.
necessary food may be consumed. This
was formerly the custom, and is so now,
in our larger markets. 1t is proceeding
which gives manifest advantage to one
of the parties; for the farmer, unless he
has been accustomed to weighing his
beasts during the progressive stages of
their fattening, can only have very un-
certain idea of their weight; while the
butcher, from his continual practice, is
enabled to form tolerable accurate es-
innate. Hence, some have killed a beast
out of a particular lot, with view to as
certain the average weight of animals in
such lot; but, in order to obtain a perfect
equality between the buyer and seller, il
would be better to dispose of every beast
by weight, and that can be easily ascer
tanned by the steel-yard.
| There are, however, various methods
by which the dead weight of the animal
the weight of the four quarters, sinking
the otfal-may be readily ascertained
passes string round the beast just behind
the shoulder-blade, and then measures the
length of that string. This is, in simple
lang guage, taking the girth of the animal
and he writes it carefully down. Next
from the bone of the tail whence a line
would fall perpendicalarly, Just touching
the buttock, he measures along the bach
to the fore part of the shouIder-blade
and he registers the amount of this.
He has now the girth and the length O.
the beast. He multiplies them together
and has the number of square superficial
feet which the exterior of the beast com
prises. He next multiplies the produc
of this by twenty -three-the number O
pounds allowed to eaeh Superhclal foot ii
all cattle measuring less than seven anC
more than five feet in girth, and he oh
tains the sum of weight in pounds.
Suppose the animal weighed to be les
than nine and more than seven feet il
girth-thirty-o is the number of pound
to each superficial foot, and, under tiv,
feet, eleven pounds. For a half-fatteC
beast, one pound in twenty must be al
} lowed, and twenty pounds in the who'll
weight for COW that has had Calves
american Stock Journal.