No 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 527 



MEAT DEMONSTRATION 



By H. W. NORTON, Howell, Michigan. 



The question of quality of meats is one that has not been con- 

 sidered and understood to any great extent until recently, A few 

 years ago there was not much attention paid to that subject, and 

 meat was taken in the carcass and sold strictly on the weight basis 

 without any consideration particularly to the hneness of the quality 

 as indicated by the different points which we consider, and it is 

 not until very recent years that any particular attention has been 

 paid to this subject. The addition of the dressed carcass compe- 

 tition class at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago 

 has done more to excite interest in the question of quality in meats 

 than anything else; and at the present time every year we have in 

 the Chicago stock show a dressed carcass competition in which the 

 best stock are judged on foot and slaughtered and judged on the 

 clean carcass. The judging on foot does not always agree with 

 the judging of the clean carcass, which shows that the science of 

 judging beef is not an exact science. At the present time it is 

 not quite so thoroughly understood as it will be after a few years 

 when more attention has been paid to it and we have more slaugh- 

 tering tests and more work done. These two cattle that were used 

 by Prof. Cochel yesterday afternoon over at the Market in the 

 livestock demonstration will be shown here this afternoon in the 

 cuts, showing you the difference in the two carcasses after they are 

 cut up over the block. In preparing these two carcasses I have 

 had the side of each one cut into the wholesale cuts and these will 

 serve to show you the difference in the development of the cuts, 

 the difference in the size and thickness of the flesh, the grain, the 

 fat, color and different points taken into consideration in judging 

 the carcass. It might be well at this point to take a few moments 

 to consider the judging of carcasses. 



In the first place, for a carcass to be prime, to be selected as a 

 prime carcass or credited as a prime carcass, it is necessary to 

 have a high dressing per cent. The reason for that is that the 

 dressing per cent, depends largely on the condition of the animal, 

 the meat, the fat the animal carries. The fatter the animal, gen- 

 erally speaking, the higher the dressing per cent. This is the most 

 important point in controlling the dressing per cent. Aside from 

 the amount of fat that the animal carries, we have also the breed. 

 Steers of the beef breeds will dress a higher per cent, than steers 

 of the dairy breeds. This is true because the beef breeds have been 

 bred for a great many years for the thick, heavy carcass. The 

 dairy cow has been bred for capacity, for refinement in form, for, 

 the incurving thighs, the curved ribs and low hind quarter, etc. 

 If you are looking for dairy cows and find one that is fat and meaty, 



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