CHAPTER XIII 

 JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



The relationship of the animal form to its function is one 



of great importance and offers a most interesting study for 

 the live-stock student who would know farm animals. The 

 word conformation is used in a general reference to the ar- 

 rangement of the parts of the form to one another. When 



Figure 27. Giraffes in the New York Zoo, Bronx Park. Photograph by the 



author. 



one says an animal has a good conformation, one simply 

 means that the different parts are well balanced and in 

 harmony with one another. Scientific study has shown that 

 all animals, no matter how odd they may seem, have con- 

 formations best suited to their needs and conditions of life. 

 The giraffe, with excessively long neck, feeds on the twigs 

 and leaves of the trees overhead; the lion, with cat-like form, 

 slyly creeps up and springs upon its prey, and tears and cuts 



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