The Columbus journal., 1898-05-11
A.la.ble Advice To Cattle Shippers.


In the preparation Of the quarterly
report Of the Kansas Board Of Agncu!-
ture. devoted to 'The Beef Steer" ,"Sec-
retary F. d. Coburn aimed to not only
secure the views Of those xho are mas
ters in beef production. but also avail
himself OF observations by others,
among them those who deal with the
stock when 1t reaches the market.
None have a keener eye for the merits
and defects of the beef animal, boh as
to his individual quality. condition anu
the treatment given him at home ana
on his way to market, than the sale,men
VINO receive. care for and sell hin to
the slaughterer or shipper. From the
counsel given by one of the most ex-
tensive livestock commission firm, the
Following excellent advice for eyery
FEEDER and shipper is given, and II the
result OF very extensive experience and
wide observation. They say: IL the
hrst place, large majority of the feed
ers make q mistake In holding fat cat
tie that are ready for market: 70, in
stance. a man il feeding 100 to $50
head of steerr. and there are. say, one
half or two-thirds Of the cattle tina! are
fat and could be shipped at any time.
Very few men will ship them out for
the simple reason that all their attle
are not ready. and they hold on t, the
good ones until the entire bunch is
ready. We are continually advising !
our customers to ship out all fat cat |
tie as fast n ready. BY doing sotkey |
divide their risk. The cattle thal are
left have . better chance to improve.
and there is more profit to be male in
this way on account Of the small mar
gin there 10 in keeping matured o GERS.
~ this Aiass Of cattle make littleGain
compared with halt-fat steers. AnDther 7
mistake that II made 10 In shippins cas-
tie on grass. We have had . number
OF instances where our cuStomershave
shipped cattle that were fed on the
grass without putting them in dy 10:
for . day or two before shipmen ana
feeding nothing but corn. oats. ana
hay. and. by not doing %, the cattle
on arrival look grassy, their hairlooks
shiny. they shrink almost double what
they would II handled In the roper
way. and they don't sell within 1G to Is
cents per hundred land in somecases
more) Of cattle that are put in ! dry
lot and fed nothing but corn. h$ ana
oats for . short time before shiiment.
Overloading IL . very bad featuA, but
We might add that We are not tryubied
as much in this respect - We wee je.
fore the charge Of freight BY ceuIs Der
100 pounds became established. A lit
tie advice ON this subject II stillQulte
necessary. n We have cUst0meb fire.
quentiy who overload their cattle and,
~ result, they make IN extra Srink-
age:: they do not look n well d mar
ket. which. a you are aware. Fleets
the sale fully 10 cents per hhdred
pounds: this means q direct loss to the
shipper OF 10 cents Per hundred ana :
the extra shrinkage. which 10 qlite q
large item, that could be saved with
proper Management.
The best investment q shippe ever
made was in putting extra goo bed
ling in his cars. This = pointwhich
should be well looked after. - itmeans
! big saving from loss Of possibly dead
" crippled cattle. - we'll ~ the brink
lge We think another poin, that
;ould be well covered would be where