FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 365 



judge, I shall be compelled to deny myself the privilege of being equally 

 frank and assume for the time being that the award may be backed up by 

 the reason therefor. 



In entering upon the duties of an awarding judge the main thought in 

 the mind of the writer should, I think, be utility and adaptation to intended 

 purpose, primary considerations being constitution, vitality, digestive 

 capacity, type, breed character, conformation, quality, distribution, thick- 

 ness and character of flesh, finish condition, style and disposition. In con- 

 sidering these various features one can arrive at a satisfactory conclusion at 

 a glance on some points and with difficulty on others. Eternity is not half 

 long enough to bring all minds to the acceptance of one table of weights and 

 measues which shall estabish the proper rating of basic essentials which shall 

 shape our judgment. Every year serves to bring the leading breeds of beef 

 cattle nearer together and nearer to a common standard of excellence, so 

 that the basis of judgment that applies and holds good with one breed to a 

 great extent serves as a criterion of judgment with another and yet each 

 bleed has its distinguishing features which by its breeders are highly valued. 

 In the case of the Angus a preference is given to the rounded formation 

 rather than the more squarely built sort. We like all angles of the bony 

 framework well laid in and are willing that the flesh should be proportion- 

 ately more in evidence. They may be big or big little ones but we want 

 them compact. 



Speaking for myself, I will say I think more and more highly of a good 

 head. It tells so much of what there is back of it. The head should be 

 comparatively short and wide; the poll clean and well defined; the eye full, 

 bright and prominent; the muzzle clean-cut and nostril large; the jaw deep 

 and strong; a medium-sized ear well-haired and well-carried; an expression 

 that combines animation with placidity and both with intelligence. I like 

 these things. Why? Because all these features singly and collectively 

 possess a special significance and prove an index in proportion to their 

 possession to the requirements of the prize-winner. If to this sort of head 

 you add a pronounced masculinity in the case of the male, an equallj' pro- 

 nounced femininity in the case of the female and a pronounced individuality 

 in the case of either, you have a head that not only insures it possessor the 

 proper individuality but a capacity to reproduce its own excellence in its. 

 offspring. The neck, which furnishes only cheap meat, should not be too 

 long; should come out from the top of the shoulderwithout a drop and in the 

 case of the male with a full and well developed crest. Let there be a free- 

 dom from surplus leather about the throat in the female and the same in the 

 bull, except to the extent necessary to give desired masculinity. Let this 

 sort of a head on this sort of a neck be carried as though the possessor appre- 

 ciated them and knew their value. A full bulging neck-vein should join 

 the neck to a shoulder of ample width but points well turned in, crops well 

 filled and not too open and all well covered. Going back from the shoulder 

 a well sprung rib, a deep rib, and a well covered rib are next demanded. 

 A straight, strong back, a thick loin of good width, a level quarter, long, 

 wide and deep, unite in constituting the ideal top and when covered smoothly 

 with thick firm flesh without hardness, without rolls, without patches, with- 

 out soft loose blubbery fat, it becomes the top the winner should have. 



