=Yankee Ingenuity.=--In the United States during the early days of the live stock market, buyers purchased their supplies where they best could, and shipped them alive to the places where the animals were to be consumed. At this point “Yankee” ingenuity interceded and devised the opposite plan, viz: that of shipping the live stock to a few central points and there changing it to dressed meats, which were shipped to the consuming markets. The development of this plan inaugurated a new line of business now recognized as one of the most important of modern industries--central stock yards and packing house centers. [Illustration: FIG. 1.--LIVE STOCK GOING TO SCALE, UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO.] =Chicago Yards.=--One of the first and largest of these central live stock depots to be established was the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A., where are located the largest slaughter houses. Views of these great yards are shown. Fig. 1 shows one of the places where live stock is passed to the scales and weighed prior to delivery to the purchaser; Fig. 2, a view of the live stock pens and an alleyway on a busy day; Fig. 3, a view of a pen containing choice yearling cattle, and Fig. 4, one containing a bunch of choice Polled-Angus cattle. These views are typical of many markets now established throughout the United States and where the business is conducted upon a parallel basis. [Illustration: FIG. 2.--A BUSY ALLEY, UNION STOCK YARDS, CHICAGO.] =Movement Westward.=--Many factors and conditions contributed to the possibility of the modern packing plant. The feature of slaughtering the cattle near to the point of growth lessened the shrinkage and abuse of the animal and its resulting food product. There are many of the conditions that might be gone into in detail but which are now of no consequence. However, among the conditions that made the business possible was the fact that on the vast plains of the west, innumerable cattle were being raised at a minimum cost, with but little local sale, whereas in the thickly settled east, in the manufacturing districts, a ready market was found for the beef. [Illustration: FIG. 3.--PEN CONTAINING CHOICE YEARLING CATTLE.]