ANIMAL FORM AN INDEX OF QUALITIES. 363 



well in proportion to size, but the weight, on the 

 whole, may be deficient, and the flesh, from the exces- 

 sive proportion of fat, may not be of the best quality. 



Notwithstanding the objections to these very short 

 and compact animals, as a type of the best form for 

 the production of meat, they may be advantageously 

 used as sires in flocks and herds that are decidedly 

 deficient in fattening quality ; the excessive tendency 

 to the production of fat and the deficiency in muscle 

 or lean meat being corrected by the opposite tenden- 

 cies of the females with which they are coupled. 



Of the two extreme types of form that have been 

 presented the latter is to be preferred, as the defects 

 consist only in the undue prominence or excessive de- 

 velopment of qualities that are in themselves desirable. 



When the depth and thickness of the body are in 

 proper proportion to the length, as in Fig. 6, and the 

 lower joints of the legs are short, so that there is not 

 too much space between the lower line of the body 

 and the ground, good feeding quality and early matu- 

 rity may be looked for, in connection with good mus- 

 cular development and flesh of the best quality, the 

 fat being evenly distributed, while the harmony of 

 proportions and great substance will give the greatest 

 weight of valuable carcass. 



Animals of the same dressed weight when exam- 

 ined on the butcher's block will be found to present 

 great differences in the -relative proportion of the 

 cheap and the high-priced parts, and they will there- 

 fore differ greatly in actual value, without taking into 

 account any differences that may exist in the general 

 quality of flesh. 



