ANIMAL TYPE AND ITS IMPORTANCE 115 



At first it was only a "good" animal, or a "poor" one. 

 Then other words came into use to show still finer differences. 

 If one looks over the market quotations in the early num- 

 .bers of the oldest agricultural papers, he will find just such 

 words used in references to the 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 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 of 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. At the present time we hear more 

 or less about the American type and the Island type of Jer- 

 sey; the American type being somewhat larger, coarser, 

 plainer-headed, and less symmetrical in udder than the 



