ANIMAL TYPE AND ITS IMPORTANCE 121 



tage. So in the prime animal the buyer looks for a wide 

 back, deep body, thick, meaty hind quarters, and a frame 

 entirely covered with a smooth, thick layer of flesh that will 

 cut up well with as little offaj as possible. To ensure small 

 waste, an animal must be what we call well-fattened, and 

 have no coarseness or heaviness of bone. As one goes down 

 the line of grades, each of these desirable features is less to be 

 seen. Thus an inferior steer would show a small percentage 



Fig. 6-4. Feeder calves of William George, of Illinois. Photograph by courtesy 

 The Farmer. 



of high-priced cuts, would lack in condition and quality of 

 flesh, and show much waste at slaughter. These grades 

 have the same relative importance in live stock as similar 

 terms have in grading corn or wheat. For comparison, we 

 have dent corn for one type and sugar corn for another. 

 Dent corn we classify into white and yellow, and then grade 

 each of these as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc., the best being No. 1, 

 comparable to the term prime in live stock. Put in the form 



