PROGRESSIVE BEEF CATTLE RAISING 



shrink 40 to 60 pounds, due to the emptying of the diges- 

 tive tract, which is 3 to 5 percent of the entire weight 

 of the animal. A difference in estimate of i percent 

 dress on a 1200 pound steer selling at q cents a pound 

 is $1.08, and many mistakes of that sort reduce to zero 

 the usefulness of a buyer. The broad thick type of steer 

 will outdress the steer of wedge-shaped dairy type even 

 when condition and fill are the same, by 3 to 5 percent, 

 while quality in hide, head and bone may affect the 

 dressing ratio by i to 2 percent. 



The average run of steers killed by Armour and Com- 

 pany dress about 53 percent, good to choice ranging 

 from 56 to 59, and steers of extra good show type, going 

 from 59 to 63. The champion steer at the 1920 Fort 

 Worth show was killed by Armour and Company and 

 dressed 67.48 percent. The world's record is on a 

 spayed heifer killed at the Smithfield Fat Stock Show in 

 London, that made 76.75 percent. Fat cows dress about 

 56 per cent, and canners from 35 to 43 percent. 



Feeders in estimating the value of the cattle they ship 

 should not allow dressing percentage to overshadow the 

 value of quality and proper shape in the carcasses their 

 steers produce. In final analysis the price of a load of 

 steers is directly related to the desirability of the carcasses 

 obtained, and quality, size and shape provide the original 

 basis on which the buyer must make his estimates. 



Page Seventy 



