JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 131 



would exactly answer to the description of general appear- 

 ance there given would score 20, or would be perfect in this 

 one respect. If in scoring a sheep one had the opinion that 

 each part was perfect, then one should give the full value in 

 the blank space for "score of animal." In such a case the 

 sheep would score 100, and hence by the scale of points would 

 be perfect. But we have no such animal. It is rarely that 

 one will score 90 points or above, and but few grade as high 

 even as 80. Suppose you were scoring a Dorset ram. As 

 you examine the animal, you are sure to find him inferior 

 to perfection in some points. He may carry his head per- 

 fectly, the eye may be above criticism, but you may find 

 good reason to criticise the way he stands on his feet. He 

 may not be bad in this respect; so you give him 17 points 

 for general appearance instead of 20. Narrow chests are 

 very common, and our Dorset may show by the close way 

 his front legs are placed together, that he lacks a broad, full 

 chest; so after consideration you give him 7.5 points for this 

 part, which you think is all the credit he should receive. 

 Thus one goes through the list of points and examines the 

 animal systematically and critically, putting down the score 

 from part to part, finally adding the column made, and so 

 getting the total points scored for comparison with the per- 

 fect Dorset. 



The value of the score card lesson is seen in several ways. 

 It trains the student to examine the animal systematically, 

 and impresses on the mind the things that should be con- 

 sidered in studying form and character. Attention is first 

 called to the animal as a whole, when character is considered, 

 as it can be studied at no better time, and then the differ- 

 ent parts in proper order are carefully examined and rated. 

 So one learns to make first a general examination, to get the 

 balance of parts, the breed character, the size, quality, and 

 condition, and thus measure up the entire animal from the 

 standpoint of appearance. Then comes the detailed study 



