70 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECOKD. 



The divisions of the mutton and lamb trade are (1) carcass mutton and 

 Iamb, and (2) mutton and lamb cuts. The classes of carcass mutton and lamb 

 are wethers, ewes, bucks, yearlings, and lambs. The grades within these classes 

 are choice, good, medium, common, and culls, and are based on differences in 

 form, quality, covering, and weight. The shipping trade goes principally to 

 cities in the eastern seaboard States and consists largely of medium to choice 

 lambs. The leading mutton and lamb cuts are saddles and racks, together with 

 legs, loins, short racks, stews, and backs, and are graded in the same manner 

 as carcass mutton and lamb. 



Hog products ai'e described under 3 heads: (1) Dressed hogs, (2) pork cuts, 

 and (3) lard. The classes of dressed hogs are smooth, heavy, butcher, packing, 

 and bacon hogs, shippers and pigs, a classification based on the uses to which 

 the hogs are adapted. Distinct grades are recognized only in the packing and 

 bacon classes, the former being based on v^^eight and the latter chiefly on quality 

 and finish. The classes of pork cuts are hams, sides, bellies, backs, loins, 

 shoulders, butts and plates, and miscellaneous. Pork cuts are quoted as fresh 

 pork, dry-salt and bacon meats, barreled or plain-pickled pork, sweet-pickled 

 meats, smoked meats, " English " meats, and boiled meats, respectively. The 

 grading of pork cuts is much more complex than that of other meats. It in- 

 volves not only their quality, shape, finish, and weight, but also the styles of 

 cutting and methods of packing used. The grades of lard are kettle-rendered 

 leaf, kettle-rendered, neutral, prime steam, refined, and compound lard. The 

 garding is based on the kinds of fats included, method of rendering, color, 

 flavor, and grain. 



Influence of ag'e on the economy and profit of feeding calves, yearlings, 

 and two-year-olds, J. H. Skinner and W. A. Cochel {Indiana Sta. Bui. l-'f6, 

 pp. 599-608, figs. 7). — A summary of experiments previously noted which have 

 been conducted for the past 3 years (E. S. R., 23, p. 772) to determine the influ- 

 ence of age on the economy and profit of feeding cattle. 



" The calves required 90 days and the yearlings 20 days longer feeding period 

 than the 2-year-olds, to make them prime. The average daily gain of the calves 

 was 0.61 lb. per head less than that of the 2-year-olds and 0.34 lb. less than that 

 of the yearlings. The average of the three trials shows that the total amount 

 of concentrates (shelled corn and cotton-seed meal) required to finish calves 

 was 3.520.5 lbs. per head, yearlings, 3,547.9 lbs., and 2-year-olds, 3,704.6 

 lbs. ... By reducing all to a dry matter basis it will be found that the average 

 amount of dry matter consumed in roughage by calves was approximately 

 1,745 lbs., by ^yearlings 2,015 lbs., and by 2-year-olds 2,041 lbs. . . . With 

 uniform prices 'for feeds, ... it cost 82 cts. less to fatten a calf than a yearling 

 and $2.60 less than a 2-year-old. . . . The gains on calves amounted to 103 per 

 cent, on yearlings 54 per cent, and on 2-year-olds 43.6 per cent on their initial 

 live weight." 



" The pork produced from each bushel of corn fed to calves amounted to ap- 

 proximately 1 lb., to yearlings 1.85 lbs., and to 2-year-olds 2.5 lbs., which 

 would tend to make the difference in profit from feeding even more marked 

 than where the profit on cattle alone is considered." 



"The initial cost per hundred of calves is greater than that of older 



cattle. . . . 



" The difference in total quantity of feed necessary for finishing cattle of 

 different ages and fed to the same marketable finish is negligible. 



" The average margin required between buying and selling prices to prevent 

 loss was $1.60 per hundred on calves, $1.71 on yearlings, and $1.55 on 2-year- 

 olds; the margins secured on a stationary market were $2.02 on calves, $2.22 

 on yearlings, and $2.09 on 2-year-olds, resulting in a profit of 42 cts. per hun- 

 dred on calves, 51 cts. on yearlings, and 54 cts. on 2-year-olds. . . . 



