The Eddy current., 1898-05-07
Aaluabls Advle. 10 ca,,is shlpp,r..

In the preparation of the quarterly
report Of the Kansas Board Of Agricul-
lure. devoted 10 "Tho Beef Steer" Sec.
retary =. d. Coburn aimed to not only
secure the views Of those Sho are mas.
iers IN beef production but also avail
himself OF observations by others,
among them those who deal with the
stock when II reaches the market
None have a keoncr eve for tho merits
and defects Of the beef animal. both as
20 his individual quality. condition ana
the treatment given him az home ana
on his way 10 market than the aaleamen
who receive. care for and sell him %
the slaughteror or shipper. FROM the
counsel given by one Of the most ex-
tonsive livestock commission firms the
following excellent advice for every
FEEDER and shipper ~ given, and Is the
result 0f very extensive experience and
wide observation. They say. In the
i hrst place, large majority OF the feed
ers make mistake IN holding fat eat
tie that are ready for market. for In
stance. a man IL feeding 100 10 i5O
head OF steers. and there are. say. ono.
half or two-thlrds ~ the cattle that are
TAT and could be shipped az any time.
Very few men will ship them out. Tor
the simple reason that ell their cattle
are not ready, and they hold on 10 the
good ones until the entire bunch is
ready. We are continually advising
our customers to ship out all tat cat
tie as fast ns ready. by doing 20 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 account OF the small g-ar-
gin there IL In keeping matured steers,
as this class OF cattle make little gain
compared with habitat steers. Another
mistake that is made ~ IN shipping cat
tie on grass. We have had a number
OF Instances where our customers have
shipped cattle that we're fed on tho
grass without putting them In a dry lo,
for day or two before shipment aud
feeding nothing but corn. oats. ana
hay, and. by not doing 30. the cattle
on arrival look grassy. their hair looks
shiny. they shrink almost double what
they would n handled In the proper
way, and they don't sell within 10 TO 10
cents per hundred land In some cases
more) Of cattle that are put In a dry
lot aud fod nothing but corn. hay and
oats for a short time before shipment.
Overlooking Is n very bad feature. bui
we might add that We are not troubled
as much In this respect as we were be-
fore the charge Of freight by cents per
100 pounds became established. A 1T
tie advice on this subject Is still quite
necessary, as we have customers fire.
quentiy who overload their cattle. and
as a result, they make an extra shrink
age; they do not look az well al mar
ket, which. as you are aware. affects
the sale fully 20 cents per hundred
pounds; this means direct less 70 the
shipper OF 10 cents per hundred, 6nd
the extra shrlnkage, which ia quite O
large item, that could be saved with
proper management.
The best Investment n shipper cNel
made was IN putting extra good bod
ding IN his cars. This IS point whlci
should be well looked after. as IL meant
a hlg saving from loss OF possibly dcat
or crippled cattle. W. well as the shrink
age. We think another point tha
could be well covered would be. wher,
parties are shipping stock. 20 classify 8
as much as possible lr this way th
cars are more evenly loaded the stool
ships much better, and Il also save
considerable delay upon arrival her,
The work of sorting and shaping stocl
a. this end Is a very small item, but
by classifying the stock In the country
II means economy Of time az the mar
kot. Cattle handle better u they d
not get too much water just bofor
shipment The golden rule In shipplnI
oil kinds Of cattle Is TO get them a
quickly as possible from range, ranch
farm or feed yard 10 market Notabl
is this the case with rangers II IA
been proven time aud again that
range bullock shrInks every hour afte
he leaves his native haunts. II stand
20 reason that all cattle viii do "a
but natives do not fret. nor are the
liable 20 get so bruised as the former.