MEAT PRODUCTION . 427 



for material for growth in the young animal tends to reduce the 

 proportion of the feed available for fattening. 



The prime object of fattening (446) is an improvement in 

 the quality of the meat by the deposition of fat between the 

 fibers of the meat, and to some extent by increasing the ex- 

 tractives of the meat itself. The large deposits of fat about 

 the internal organs and under the skin are incidental to this and 

 are to a certain extent a waste. The subcutaneous fat affords 

 a convenient index to the quality of the meat, and of course 

 the adipose tissue of the carcass is of some value, but these fat 

 deposits largely represent the price paid for the improved qual- 

 ity of the meat proper. It is not impossible that the traditions 

 of the market may cause the process of fattening to be pushed 

 beyond what is necessary. 



This improvement in quality may be, and to a considerable 

 extent is, secured by a comparatively short period of high 

 feeding after growth has been nearly completed. It is obvious, 

 however, that no sharp line can be drawn between the pro- 

 cesses of growth and fattening. A calf or yearling may be 

 fattened while growing, and a two-year-old steer will continue 

 to grow to some extent while being fattened. The two pro- 

 cesses shade into each other and economic considerations will 

 decide whether they shall be carried on more or less simultane- 

 ously by a single producer or at different times by two different 

 individuals. 



In brief, meat production may be defined as a combination 

 of growth and fattening, which may be either simultaneous or 

 successive, but the production of protein tissue is the primary 

 object in view, while the accumulation of fat, although adding 

 to the nutritive value and to the palatability of the meat, is more 

 or less a secondary matter. The purpose of the present chapter 

 is to consider the application of the principles of growth and 

 fattening discussed in the two preceding chapters to this branch 

 of food production. 



503. Factors of meat production. From the economic 

 point of view, the meat producing animal may be looked upon 

 as a mechanism by means of which the raw material contained 

 in the various feeding stuffs is converted into the finished prod- 

 uct for human consumption. Regarding meat production, 

 then, as a manufacturing process, the amount and quality of 



