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PAGE TEN
COCONINO SUN
FRIDAY, MAY 25, 1817
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Range and Market News
Items of Interest Pertaining to the Livestock Industry of Arizona,
Market Letter for the Past Week.
WEEKLY KANSAS CITY
STOGKJflARKET REPORT
Kansas City Stock Yards, May 21,
1917. Cattle receipts were 12,000,
market strong and active, following a
rise of 25 to 35 cents last wek, top
sters $13.10. Hog supply was 9000,
market steady to 5 lower, top 16.40,
numeruos loads $10.35. Sheep and
lamb receipts were 4000, market
steady, fed lambs $20.10, spring lambs
$18, clipped lambs $17.
Beef Cattle Scarce
Three loads of pulp fed steers sold
at $13.10, making a new high record,
other pulp steers at $12.00 to $12.90.
No prime natives were here, but they
are worth up to $13.25 or better. Good
to choice natives sold up to $12.90,
medium and plain short fed cattle
downwards to $10. Fourteen loads of
California steers at $10.50 to $12.7$,
weighing 880 to 1070 lbs. In the
quarantine division half fed steers
sold at $9.50 to $11.25, weights from
870 to 1040 lbs. a string of quarantine
cows sold at $7.25 to $8.50, and 3
loads of Oklahoma calves brought
$9.25 to $13.50. Choice heavy cows
sell up to $11.25, heifers $12.25, bulls
$10.50, veal calves $14.00. The supply
was drawn from.n wide territory, in
cluding Texas, California, Wyoming,
Colorado and all the nearby states, in
dicating scarcity.
Stockers and Feeders Slump
The market has been rather dull for
a week, with sales at the finish last
week 25 cents under the best time.
Prices today were barely steady, but
there was a feature sale today of 300
head of Panhandle White Face heifer
stock calves, 332 lbs. average, at $12.
Stock steers sell at $8 to 10, not many
feeders going out, as killers are pay
ing more than country buyers for
them.
Hogs May Drop
The early market was steady to
order buyers and traders, but packers
held out for lower prices. They got
a few hogs that way, but most of the
hogs sold around steady, two loads at
the top, $10.40, half a dozen or more
loads at $16.35, including some med
ium weights, top on lights $16.10, bulk
of sales $15.80 to $16.35. -Corn plant
ing has held receipts down for a week,
tut a general rain Sunday and Mon
day may release a fair run for later
this week, in which event the killers.
are primed lor an attempt to break
prices a little. However, the market
is regarded as pretty safe, though a
run of hevay fat sows is about due.
and there will be some slashing of
nrices on these.
Arizona Lambs $17.50
Each class of lambs was represent
ed today by a few head, but the total
was small, and far below require
ments. Best fed Iambs sold at $20.10,
equal to the top paid last week, Ari
zona spring lambs $17.50, South Tex
as spring lambs $18, clipped fed lembs
$17, the whole market right at the
best point yet reached. No Texas
goats were here, but some common
Oklahoma brushers sold at $9.75, good
brushers worth $11, fat goats last
week at $11.
J. A. RICKART,
Market Correspondent
MUNITIONS AT THE MARKET
During the past half decade mar
keting of cattle, hogs and sheep has
been revolutionized. The yearling
steer has acquired popularity, the
bulk of the hog crop goes to the
Duicner ai less man iweive monwis oi
ace and the sheen industry has gone
on a lamb basis. Buyers who went
down into Texas this spring to secure
cattle for replenishing Kansas pas
tures found few and were compelled
to take two-year-olds to stock their
crass. The northwest has, for the
same reason, been compelled to take
yearlings instead of two-year-olds. At
Chicago few fat cattle now show more
than two years of age and the pro
portion of yearlings is rapidly in
creasing. Supply statistics may show
a gain, but it is erroneous from a beef,
tonnage standpoint. Hogs are con
stantly beincr marketed at lichter
weights, for economic reasons, and the
bulk ot the western iamb crop now
goes to the butcher at ages ranging
from 5 to 10 months. Five years ago
aged cattle and wethers were to be
found cverywhreo in the west, but
reserves have practically disappeared
and the whole trade is on a hand-to-mouth
basis. Contracting of unborn
calves and Iambs on an enormous
scale has been a feature of the trade
this year at unprecedented prices.
Could more convincing evidence of
actual scarcity be desired? Even the
aged brood sow is threatened with
extinction, the new practice being to
keep this year's gilts for next year's
pig crop, sending yearling sows to the
stock yards as soon as possible after
they have weaned one crop of pigs, a
practice that is blamed by experts for
diminishing pig crops. All this means
less beef, pork and mutton tonnage,
insuring the grower against recur
rence of such periods of excess supply
and price demoralization at the mar
kets as was an inseparable feature of
the trade during the period of plenti-tude.
A HANDICAPPED INDUSTRY
CALF RAISING THAT PAYS
J. A. .Beck of Early, Iowa, mar
keted a load of 846-lb Shorthorn year,
lings at $12.50 at Chicago yesterday
and is prepared to make oath and tes
tify that it is one kind of beef pro
duction that pays.
Beck is a renter, does not possess
a silo and depends on grass, hay and
corn in his beef making operations.
If there is a profit in the business un
der such conditions it would be vastly
enhanced under such reduction of cost
as would bo possible by the use of
silage.
The Iowa man's way of doing it is
worth investigation if not emulation.
Another effective method of increas
ing food supply would be the produc
tion of more rye.
The wool and mutton industry is
laboring under handicaps that are not
susceptible of elimination. East of tho
Missouri River mutton making is now
largely a matter of fattening western-bred
stock, and supply of that is
diminishing. There is much difference
of opinion concerning the feasibility
of restoring breeding sheep to corn
belt farms and Eastern hill pastures.
Theoretically it is the logical sequence
of current scarcity and high prices,
but u anything .is neglected on the
farm it is the small flock of ewes.
The American fanner "is proverbially
adverse to doing chorus, and that is
what attending to the needs of a
flock of ewes amounts to. The dairy
cow is a serious competitor of the
sheep and the ever-present canine
menace deters many farmers from
even considering sheep. At present
the major portion of the wool and
mutton produced in the United States
originates west of the Missouri River,
Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Ne
vada and New Mexico, being among
the chief contributors. It might be
expected that present prices would
result in rapid increases in flocks, but
settlement of the bench lands in the
mountain regions has deprived flock
owners of their lambing ranges, nec
essitating liquidation on an enormous
scale during a period of unpreccdent
cdly high values. In the plains country
running flocks have been seriously
hampered by homesteading and neces
sity for winter feeding has made re
duction of numbers imperative. Every
agency has worked for repression, in
cluding a market for lambs that has
sent to the butcher young ewes that
under normal conditions would have
been retained to recuperate flocks.
Ewes have gone to prohibitive figures
recently, and prices constitute serious
difficulty in founding farm flocks,
breeding stock being higher on the
range than at the market. The future
of the sheep industry is difficult to
forecast. That tho West will not be
able to materially increase wool and
mutton production during the next
half decade, at least, is certain. What
will rlpvnlnn onaf nf the XTIodaiivi
River is open to conjecture. There
are minions oi acres in me eastern
and central states by nature adapted
fn nViAAn nTirl If wmiW oAam Vof
world-wide scarcity, especially of
wool, snouid stimulate interest in the
inuusiry. xi prouueuon ox wool ana
wilftnTi ?a in iWTMinrl mnf Avintltr if
...MVW.. ... .W M1MUIIU ..... ,.wil y J.
must be accomplished in that section
oi tne country.
THE BOOM IN LIVE MUTTONS
may be rendered by reporting any
lnnfiAC vnlnfivo fn fltn nmiontt rtf nirra '
and the production of forage for live
stock to D. A. Gilchrist, Flagstaff,
Arizona, who is in charge of such
work in Arizona.
Colorado lambs sold at $20 tier cwt
on the Chicaco market and shorn ,
lambs at $16.00. At the correspond-r
mg time last year siz.zo took thei
best lambs on the market, and new.
records were then being made. '
The advance has been continuous
since early in- Anril and is without
precedent. The country is confronted I
with a shortage of both wool and
mutton of prolonged duration. East
of the Missouri river the industry has
been all but wiped out in a commer
cial sense, and nocks in the range
country are steadily dwindling. The (
new iumu ciujj will ue u iiiuuui uue
and the smallest in twenty-five years.
Highprjces for 1917 lambs are cer
tain. Feeders will cost more money
than ever before and packers will take
stock that formerly went to feeders
without competition. A band of ewes ,
la Jiuw hue uigKcat uiviuuiiu utici uii
the farm, provided it is in the hands
of a competent man.
THOSE FARAWAY STEERS
Texas Cattle Late This Year
San Antonio, May 23. The cattle
men who are caking steers on the
grass are a well satisfied lot and will
have some fair shipments ready to
go by June 1. The pasture men are
inclined to the belief that they will be
able to get their shipments out in
good flesh before the Oklahoma run
begins about July 15. Tho season will
be later this year than usual on grass
cattle on account of the late spring
which has prevailed in Texas as well
as Oklahoma. The country above the
iiuuruiiuiie line in west lexas nas naa
no rain of consequence and the weath
er has been cold. The cattle out there
will not be ready to start before fall
and unless the rains start soon the
beef will not be ready to move before
October. Tonnage is what the 'pack
ers need and the bigger and fatter the
cattle are the stronger will be the
competition. The stocker trade is
quiet for the moment, but the pasture
men of South Texas will get into the
market again shortly if the rains con
tinue.
$
75
' ' rjU. Vl
Chicago and Back
On the dates named below the Santa
Fe will sell excursion tickets to many
eastern cities at a reduction of over
25 per cent from the round trip rates
ordinarily in effect.
These excursion tickets are first class
and carry liberal stopover privileges,
with a final return limit of 3 months.
The dates of sale for these excursions
are:
May 31,
June 1-2-11-12-16-17-26-27-30.
Other dates may be announced later. ' '
Call, phone or write.
V
A New York broker visited Pack-
ingtown in Chicago Monday, with an
offer to sell a million cattle and half
million hogs in Brazil, accessible by
the Amazon river. Packers are
sketical, as they have investigated
several advertised sources of South
American cattle supply at consider
able expense and no net results.
Expectancy of a foreign supply of
beef has proved too illusive to war
rant consideration. Murdo McKen
zie's Brazilian cattle venture, prom
ising at the outset, has not fruitioned
and it is doubtful if the unexpioited
patrons of South America will add
much beef to the commercial supply
of the world during the next decade.
Thousands of Prairie Dogs Being
Exterminated Daily in Arizona
Carefully conducted tests have re
cently proved that from ten to fifteen
thousand Prajrie dogs are being killed
daily at a cost of about one quarter
of a cent each by the field forces cm
ployed by the U. S. Biological Survey
in Arizona. It is possible that the
work of controlling rodent pests in
Airzona may be very considerably ex
tended owing to the present interna
tional situation and the jrreat need
for inert asing the production of crops
and live stock. The government wish
es to aid every farmer and stockmen
in the state who is suffering losses
from this pest and valuable assistance
Boston, May 19. Though the Bos
ton market is quieter, there is still
considerable activity in South Ameri
can wools, with quarter-bloods and
below moving quite freely. This is
due partly to the running low of
stocks of finer grades, but more par
ticularly to the announcement that
the covernment is readv to accent
fabrics containing a percentage of the
Luurscr ouiio. uie iiiurttCL is in u very
strong position and further advances
are predicted. With a large part of
the earl; contracts for territory wool
already tranferrcd to manufacturers'
account, it seems likely that much less
wool than usual will come forward to
be sold in Boston. Shearing in the
west has been ereatlv delaved bv cold
and wet weather, and consequently.
new territory wools nrn nrrivinc vprv'
slowly. Not enough has yet been done
to establish prices on the new clip,
but it is not expected that any break
will occur. Mills are getting big gov
ernment orders, one having recently
secured contracts aggregating $6,000,-
000. uraustreets.
General Blacksmith
HORSESHOEING
Auto and Wagon
Work a Specialty
EAST ASPEN AVENUE
LOU WESLEY
No More Cattle From Meixco
San Antonio. Tex.. May 23. A
dispatch from Laredo last night quotes
a passenger arriving there yesterday
from Mexico as stating that the Mexi
can Government has 'Ordered an em
bargo on exportations of foodstuffs to
the United States and other countries.
Articles mentioned in the order, said
the passenger, include beans, corn,
sheep and cattle.
Nell Oh, dear, I'm in such a quan
dary. Bell What is it?
Nell Jack promises to stop drink
ing if I marry him and Tom threat
ens to begin if I don't.
Patriotic
Economy
means elimination of waste and ex
travagance. It also means the con
servation of our resources by going
ahead with our own business in our
own way.
We will give you every assistance in
, t - intelligent selection of food.
Crawford's
Why waste your time running around to tell that old table. Classified lines 5c
s.
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33.
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Smith Form-a-Truck For Hauling
In doing the work around your orchard, keeping your general farm work
done on time and at a minimum of expense, cut down your horses to the
number you actually need and keep these steadily working in your fields.
m
Hauling with horses is the
most expensive method of
moving your products to
the market.
Use Smith Form-a-Truck.
Haul twice as much, three
times as fast in one trip.
Smith Form-a-Truck will
keep your men busy doing
the work necessary to make
your farm and yourorchards
pay good profits.
One man Is all that is nec
essary for your hauling, for
you can make four trips to
market, if you use Smith
Form-a-Truck where you
could only make one with
horses.
Smith Form-a-Truck is
placing a real hauling de
partment at the disposal of
every fruit grower and
every farmer, and giving
the lowest cost for hauling
that has ever been achieved.
Use it in your own work.
Save time save money
save labor charges.
Use Any One of Six Chassis
Using any one of six chassis, Smith Form-a-Truck combines with
any Ford, Maxwell, Dodge Bros., Bulck, Chevrolet or Overland
chassis to make a fully guaranteed one-ton track. It gives you
real truck construction that will stand up under the hardest hauling
you could ever do.
When Ypu Are in Town Drop In
See Smith Form-a-Tnack. It will pay you well.
Jos. J. Waldhaus Garage
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T. A. STAHL, Agent , ,
Phone 13 , -
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Phone 213
Flagstaff, Arizona
Wt? WHtlVMll