366 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The lower line is commonly given less consideration, 3^et its formation 

 means much, as it takes a good foundation to carry a good superstructure. 

 The thighs should be well rounded and twist well let down. A pronounced 

 cutting in of the fore-flank is objectionable because it is a break in the 

 desired nugget-like formation, because it mars symmetry, but most of all 

 because it means a narrowing of the floor of the chest. A well-sprung rib 

 with a wide chest floor insures ample space for lung-expansion and heart 

 action. A defect here is a vital defect because here is the power-house of 

 the beef plant and a shortage of power means a shortage in the output . A low 

 flank is desired partly because it strengthens the underline and adds symmetry, 

 but more particularly because more room is given for the unrestricted action 

 of the digestive organs in the abdomen — the workshop of the beef plant. 

 This sort of a carcass should be placed on short legs and straight legs with 

 sufficient but not excessive bone. Let this sort of a carcass appear in a 

 loose mellow velvety hide and a mossy glossy coat of hair and you have 

 before you my ideal of Angus excellence. The ideal is somewhat exacting 

 but one pleasing thought is that the breed is great enough to furnish so 

 many cattle both in and out of the show ring that conforms so closely to this 

 ideal. It is their ability to do this that sustains their supremacy as a beef 

 breed the world over. 



There is probably not much in the foregoing that is new to the older 

 breeder or the experienced judge, but it is for the beginner and the amateur 

 that this is written. There are, however, in the various combinations of 

 excellence and defects, in the mixing of types, in the allowances for lack of 

 condition and overdone entries, problems endless in extent and brain-rack- 

 ing in character that test the metal of the most competent and most experi- 

 enced. We all easily reach the point where we are or should be students 

 and not teachers. On the question of the two types met with in so many 

 rings and their respective recognition the old hands mix up like beginners. 

 I do not assume to say who is right and who is wrong, but I believe I have 

 gone on record in the past as to my position in this, and while always open 

 to conviction I have as yet not seen my way clear to change that position. 

 All know we have these two types— the low-down, blocky, early-maturing 

 handy-weight that comes fast for a couple of years and then quits and quits 

 forever; and in contrast to this we have the big, smooth, massive, stylish 

 ones that keep coming and give added profit from year to year. In the old 

 days both the champion steer Dot and Black Prince of Turlington had thei 

 ardent admirers. A welcoming hand is out to him who can bring out an 

 Advance and a welcome just as warm awaits him who brings out a Sham- 

 rock. We need them both in our business. Both types have won and will 

 win. Both types possess practical utility in their respective spheres of use- 

 fulness. We must have the baby beef that can be made quick on high-priced 

 land with a grain ration from birth and grazing qualities not considered. 

 We must have the sort that can profitably run one or two seasons on grass 

 only, and follow that up by a profitable feeding period in the fee^ lot. The 

 difiEerence in environment in different sections of the country renders it 

 imperative that a successful breed should afford high-class specimens of 

 both types and we should be able to breed either type at will. With the 

 Angus in the past we could do this; we can do it today, and we must be able 

 to do it in the future. 



