Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1890-12-26
THE ANNUAL LAMB MARKET.
The Lambs That 1t Pays Best to Send b
Market.

h Lambs That 1t Pays Best to Send 10
Market.
Now that the season of 1890 for mar
letting lambs is drawing to a close, a re-
view of it from a commercial point is in
order. The supplies on the eastern mar
kets were not alone liberal but were fire.
quently overabundant. The quality also
was not always such as suited the needs
of buyers. During the midsummer sea-
son, cheap veal is in such heavy supply
that it absolutely crowds out all other
varieties of inferior meats. Therefore it
is that thin lambs sell very slowly, and
butchers make 80 little on them that
many times they will not take the risk
to buy. The transportation of lambs re-
qulres looking into. As it is. now ar
ranged, shippers, to get all the weight
possible from the carrying companies,
pack lambs into the double deck a r
while close standing can be found. In
not weather this is most unwise.
On n occasion last July a car load
of Kentucky lambs, numbering 235
heads, when unloaded at the Harsimus
Cove yards was found to have lost TWEEN.
ty-hve from suffocation. The remaining
2lO lambs were 8 o overheated that to
save them from being a total loss the
car load was sold at g cents per pound.
On the day in question Kentucky lambs
OF equal weight and quality sold at 7 to
II cents per pound. The trip by rail ia
long and trying when every prope,
means is used to give space and air;
ever then the lambs arrive in the east
wearied and tagged out.
Another source of loss to flock mas.
tiers arises from their carelessness or
their Ignorance of the requirements OF
eastern buyers. So long as lambs are OF
a tender age, it will be good policy to
select the most thriving Of the ram
lambs for early marketing. The less
thrifty of the flock should be given more
time, and should be castrated and held
Tor late summer and autumn trade.
The present mode of marketing lambs
looks more like a mad rush to get the
hocks forward rather than a carefully
regulated system of commerce. The
eve lambs when thrifty and promising
we'll should be most carefully looked
over at least twice every week; those Of
best" conformation should be held as
dams, the refuse sold later on.
Not many years ago Texas sheep were
unstable in the eastern markets. They
carried t1eeces like unto wire; were
gaunt and miserable in aspect. When a
butcher took courage and bought he paid
from two to three cents per pound.
This is now all of the past. Last July
several focks of skeep arrived from
Texas and were readily disposed of at
5 to 81 cents per pound. The lowest
price was $4.95 per 100 pounds, which
was paid for culls; also one car load
odd at Al cents per pound. It is note.
worthy that while Ohio sheep command
the top price the lambs forwarded never
show to the same advantage as do the
lambs from Virginia, which, as a gen.
eral rule, are preferred by buyers to all
others during the summer months.
When autumn sets in then Canada sup
plies to a large extent the eastern de-
mand for lambs. These hocks are
nearly always cross-bred Cotswolds and
are valuable for the fleece: being also
profitable for the butcher.
Early spring lambs are supplied from
New Jersey, and if there were more en-
terprise in the state double the present
number offered could be sold at re-
munerative rates. Spring lambs no
larger than jack rabbits are not desir-
able, whereas spring lambs in February
and March weighing from forty to fifty
pounds are looked for by the owners of
costly hotels and restaurants, as also by
those who cater to wealthy city families.
American Agriculturist.