288 MANAGEMENT OF FAEM STOCK. 



made harder, and the meat is more readily salted through, 

 keeps better, and shrinks less in cooking. 



848. Aii animal in good condition will usually lose 

 from thirty-two to forty per cent, of its live weight in 

 dressing. If very fat and well formed, the loss will be 

 about one-third, or thirty-three per cent. In a fat sheep, 

 on an average, it will be from thirty-five to forty-five per 

 cent. 



849. Working cattle should have strength, docility and 

 quickness of action. Strength lies in the muscles and 

 tendons. Docility is commonly the result of good training. 

 Activity is to some extent the result of breeding, and 

 certain races, like the North Devons, are remarkable for 

 this quality. 



850. In most cases oxen are to be preferred to horses 

 for common farm labor. They are more easily raised, 

 become more valuable as they gain in size, weight and 

 condition, and may be sold for beef when no longer fit for 

 work. The harness used for them is cheap, and they are 

 better adapted to slow and heavy work, especially on rough 

 farms. Horses work faster, and are sometimes more 

 profitable on easily tilled farms. 



851. Horses are classified, according to the uses to 

 which they are put, into roadsters, or horses of general 

 utility, farm or draught-horses, and thoroughbreds or 

 racers, used mostly for sporting purposes. 



852. The horse requires a light and well- ventilated 

 stable. If he stand much in a dark stall, his eyes arc 

 often so affected as to be irritated when he is brought 

 into a stnmr light. In this way horses are frequently 

 made skittish and unsafe. 



853. The horse should, I mm the first, be treated with 

 great gentleness, often led about by the halter long before 



