No. 5. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 355 



object in view when he buys an animal which has well developed 

 ribs and well developed loins, and we must get these things by breed- 

 ing if we are to supply him with that kind of an animal; that is 

 the reason there is such a difference in animals on the market. He 

 is willing to pay more mone}^ for animals that carry the weight in 

 the desirable parts of the carcass. 



Now, the question probably arises, ''Why is this meat more desir- 

 able and more expensive?" The reason for it is that it represents the 

 tenderest part of the carcass and that portion which carries the 

 least amount of bone. You will find that whenever you get a rib 

 out of the center of the carcass or a piece of the loin, as you notice 

 on that chart, you will get a tender piece of meat, providing it does 

 not come from an inferior or old animal. Now, in cutting meat 

 commercially, the butcher and packer makes it a practice to separate 

 the cheaper or thinner cut of meat from the thicker or more expensive 

 cuts of meat. We say we want the animal with well sprung ribs; 

 that gives more surface and more place to put natural flesh. We 

 want him to carry that natural flesh well down over the ribs instead 

 of running at an angle and becoming thin, because, whenever that is 

 the case, the butcher and packer can get a longer rib and it gives him 

 a higher per cent, of that high priced meat, and that is the thing he 

 is after, and he is perfectly entitled to it, because it is a legitimate 

 way of cutting. 



Now, the first thing to do is to remove the shank, as indicated on 

 that chart, and we do that so that we can get at the plate a little 

 later on. Now there is a piece that goes for soup bone. I am going 

 to cut the shank off' the other one and you will find in these two 

 carcasses, as we go along, that one carries fat enough in practically 

 all parts of the carcass to make it tender, make it juicy and give 

 more pounds of edible meat with every ten or fifteen pounds of meat 

 that you buy. You notice even in the shank now that the thing 

 that we want is to have some fat with the lean. Too many, I am 

 afraid, want all lean. Now, you cannot buy all lean meat and get 

 tender and juicy meat; you must have fat and lean mixed together 

 in order to get quality, in order to get flavor and in order to get 

 tenderness. Comparing these two carcasses, for instance, there, you 

 have one that is practically^ all lean, this one carries not only fat 

 over the outside, but you notice that the fibre has spread in it some 

 fat. What is the result? The result is that the bundle of muscle 

 fibre in this carcass has been forced apart, that the bundles are 

 forced apart over here, while there they are in close contact, and the 

 result is that that piece over there is tougher than this one. The 

 thing that makes meat tender is the fat that it carries in addition to 

 the lean, and an animal you put in the feed lot will start and put 

 a little fat on the outside, he will put some fat on the inside after 

 he has supjdied the outside; then he begins to spread it between 

 these bundles of muscle fibre, and that is the thing that gives you the 

 thickness in the feed lot, it is not that you are putting on a^ lot 

 of flesh. When you put him in the feed lot to fatten, you are putting 

 on fat rather than any amount of flesh. The animal inherits his 

 flesh naturally. This carcass has fat over the outside, has some on 

 the inside, and has it distributed through the bundles of muscle 

 fibre, whereas, that one over there is practically bare over the en- 

 tire carcass. 



