ANIMAL TYPE AND ITS IMPORTANCE 139 



one will find just such words as "good" and "poor", etc., 

 used in references to market live stock. In the course of 

 time, people began to see that farm animals differed in type. 

 The word type, as applied to live stock, refers to the 

 special form or purpose of an animal. For example, we say 

 that a horse is of the draft type. This term means that he is 

 large and strong, and especially formed to haul heavy loads. 

 As stockmen use this word, however, it does not mean that 

 the animal referred to is perfect. It is simply an expression 

 that the horse or cow, or whatever it may be, belongs to a 

 special group in which we find others of various degrees of 

 merit. The word type has not been used many years by 

 stockmen. At the present time, however, all our farm ani- 

 mals may be separated into fairly distinct, well-known types. 

 The more simple classifications are as follows: 



HORSES CATTLE 



1. Draft type 1. Beef type 



2. Coach or carriage type 2. Dairy type 



3. Light harness or speed type 3. Dual or general-purpose 



4. Ponies type 



SHEEP SWINE 



1. Mutton type 1. Lard type 



2. Wool, or Merino, type 2. Bacon type 



All our farm animals may be sorted, and each one placed 

 in a group representing one of these types. Each of our 

 breeds of live stock, also, has one or more types. Where 

 there is more than one type in a breed, it is the result of 

 different lines of breeding. 



The grouping of live stock on the market into classes was 

 the final result of the development of the modern live-stock 

 trade. As the population grew, the demand for variety and 

 for special purposes increased as never before. There were 

 new uses for horses, and meat animals were sold for a much 

 greater variety of needs than used to be thought possible. 

 So, to-day, we find in the big markets that all types of live 

 stock are grouped into different commercial classes, and then 

 each class is graded according to its merit. For example, 



