Arizona republican., 1898-04-01
VALUABLE ADVICE TO SHIPPERS.
Kansas Department of Agriculture
 Furnishes the Facts.

Furnishes the Facts.
 1 In the preparation of the quarterly
 report of the Kansas board of agri-
 culture devoted to "The Beef Steer"
 Secretary F. D. Coburn aimed to not
 only secure the views of those who are masters in beef production but also avail himself of observations by oth-
 CTS among those who deal with the
 stock when it reaches the market.
 | None have keener eye for the mer-
 it's and defects of the beef animal,
 both as to his individual quality, con-
 dition and the treatment given him at home and on his way to market, than
 the salesman who receive, cares for and sells him to the slaughterer or shipper. From the counsel given by one of the most extensive livestock commission firms, the following ex- cellent advice for every feeder and shipper is given, and is the result of very extensive experience and wide observation. They say:
 In the first place a large majority of the feeders make a mistake in hold ing fat cattle that are ready for mar ket; for instance a man is feeding 100 to 150 head of steers, and there are, say, One-half or two-thirds of the cat tie that are fat and could be shipped at any time. Very few men will ship them out, for the simple reason that all their cattle are not ready, and they hold on to the good ones until the entire bunch is ready. We are con- t1nually advising our customers to ship out all fat cattle as fast as ready. By doing so, they divide their risk. The cattle that are left have a better chance to improve and there is more profit to be made in this way, on ac- count of the small margin there is in keeping matured steers, as this class of cattle make little gain compared with half fat steers
 Another mistake that is made is in shipping cattle off grass. We have had a number of instances where our customers have shipped cattle that were fed on the grass without putting them in a dry lot for a day or two be- fore shipment and feeding nothing but corn, oats and hay, and by not doing so, the cattle on arrival look grassy, theirhair looks shiny, they shrink al most double what they would if han dled in the proper way. and they don't sell within 10 ito 15 cents per hundred (and in some cases more) of cattle that are put in a dry lot and fed noth- ing but corn, hay and cats for a short time before shipment
 Overlooking is a very bad feature, but W care not troubled as much. in this respect, as we were before the charge of freight by cents per 100 pounds became established A little advice on this subject is still quite necessary as we have customers ire quently who overload their cattle, and, as a result, they make extra shrink age; they do not look as we'll at mar ket, which, as you are aware, affects the sale fully 10 cents per hundred pounds; this means a direct loss to the shipper of 10 cents per hundred, 1 and the extra shrinkage, which is quite large item, that could be saved 1 with proper management i
 The best investment a shipper ever made was ill putting extra good bed ding in his cars. This is a point which | should be we'll looked after, as it means big saving from loss of pos slbly dead or crippled cattle, as well as the shrinkage. We think another i
  be, where parties are shipping stock, | to classify it as much as possible. In this way the cars are more evenly l loaded, the stock ships mu-h better. 1 and it also sares considera ble delay upon arrival here. The work of sort l ing and shaping stock at this end is i a very small item, but by classifying the stock in the country it means | economy of time at the market Cattle 1 handle better if they do not get too much water just before shipment. The | golden rule in shipping all kinds of cattle is to get them as quickly as pos sible from range, ranch, farm or feed 1 yard to market Notably is this the l case with rangers. It has been proven i time and again that a range bullock | shrinks every hour after he leaves his 1 antive haunts. It stands to reason that all cattle will do so, but natives do not fret nor are they liable to to get so bruised as the former.
 Grass cattle, as a rule do not ship | well. On the pasture they look well, i and many buyer has been deceived i by the appearance of a drove of steers | in az rass field with a full bite. To ship such cattle is a hard task, and i is invariably disappointing, but it has to be done. Where convenient, it is a good plan to place such cattle in a pen and feed them hay for a day or two. The secret of shipping all classes of cattle is to place them on the cars full of feed, but with as little moisture as possible. If you ship a steer full of water he is apt to have loose bow els and show up in the yards badly. | PrOperlyhandled cattle should arrive in the sale pens dry behind, and ready for good fill of water; not -thirs- ty, but in good condition to water freely.
 Many of OUT shippers think that by salting their cattle, or by feeding them oats, or by other scheming, they can fool the buyers. This is non sense The buyers are just as sharp as the owner, and while many of them say nothing, you often see them ride nitO a pen and ont again withnut tho