The Pkopee Beef Type. 29 



mental conception of a good animal and be able to detect at once 

 the qualities that are objectionable. This applied to the animals 

 of a ring virtually amounts to the use of a score card without the 

 objectionable features of that system. In recommending the score 

 card to the student, the term " student " is used in its broadest 

 sense, embracing not only the prospective breeder within the 

 class room, but every member of the great practical school as well 

 who wishes to keep in the foremost rank of his profession. 



It is not necessary here to take up in detail all the points 

 enumerated in the foregoing score card, but it is proper to discuss 

 briefly the controlling principles and logical reasons that govern 

 the formation of a standard of excellence of this nature. The 

 analytical method of resolving every problem into scientific 

 formulas and principles, based on the firm foundation of unques- 

 tionable truth, is the intelligent method of study and investiga- 

 tion, and this method ought more generally to prevail in agri- 

 culture. 



Beef Characteristics Briefly Defined. 



The first thing that should be looked to is the general beef 

 form — low, broad, deep, smooth and even, with parallel lines. No 

 wedge shape or sharp protruding spinal column is wanted for the 

 block. Next in importance is a thick even covering of the right 

 kind of meat in the parts that give high-priced cuts. This is a 

 very important factor in beef cattle that is often overlooked. The 

 accompanying illustration (Fig. 5), represents the wholesale 

 method of cutting beef, showing the relative importance and 

 value of the different parts. In a test made in Chicago on six 

 representative beef animals — two Shorthorns, two Angus, and 

 two Herefords — fed and marketed by the Iowa Experiment iSta- 

 tion, the cuts designated as " rib " and " loin " averaged 27.8 per 

 cent, of the aggregate weight of the carcass and sold for 63.9 per 

 cent, of the total value. By this method the chuck, or shoulder, 

 and rib cuts are divided between the fifth and sixth ribs, and in 

 doing so the knife is run close up to the shoulder blade. The rib 

 and loin cuts are divided between the twelfth and thirteenth ribs, 

 ■^nd the loin is separated from the " round " at the point of the 



