256 N. H. STATE AGRTCULTCRAL SOCIETY. 



animals -whicli exhibit great fattening points on the exteri- 

 or do not fill with internal fat so well as others which want 

 these points. On the conti'ary, thin-made oxen, with flat 

 ribs and large bellies, very frequently produce large quan- 

 tities of internal fat. 



The first part which shows the fat in a feeding ox, is the 

 point or top of the rump, which, in high-bred animals, is a 

 prominent point; sometimes it protrudes too much, as the 

 mass of fat laid on these is out of proportion to the lean, 

 and therefore useless to the consumer. This is the part 

 which frequently misleads inexperienced judg&s in the true 

 fatness of the ox, because fat may be felt on tliis part when 

 it isTcry deficient on most of the other points. 



The parts, on the other hand, which are generally the last 

 in being covered with flesh, are the point of the shoulder 

 joint, and the top of the shoulder. If these parts are, there- 

 fore, felt to be well covered, the other and better parts of 

 the animal may be considered "ripe." Eipeness of condi- 

 tion, however, can only be rightly ascertained by handling, 

 for there is a great difference beTween the apparent and 

 real fatness of an ox. The flesh of an apparently fat ox to 

 the eye, may, on being handled by a judge, feel loose and 

 flabby ; but a truly fat ox always feels " hard fat." "With 

 Buch, the butcher is seldom deceived, while loose handlers 

 give no assurance of killing well. 



It is proper, in judging of the weight of a fat ox, to view 

 his gait while walking towards you, which, if he has been 

 well fed, will be accompanied witli a heavy rolling tread on 

 the ground. In this way, a judge can at once come very 

 near to its weight. 



The application of all these rules and considerations to 

 the judging of lean stock, constitutes the chief difficulty to 

 the judge. An ox in high condition, in so far as its condi- 

 tion alone is under consideration, can be judged of, as wc 

 have seen, by any one ; and sometimes the fatness may bo 

 BO great as obviously to deform the symmetry to any obscrv- 



