THE JUDGING OF LIVE STOCK 131 



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 Dor- 

 set ram. As you examine the animal, you are sure to find 

 him inferior to perfection in some points. He may carry 

 his head perfectly, 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 perfect 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 

 considered in studying form and character. Attention is 

 first called to the animal as a whole, when character is con- 

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

 different 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 of the head, next the neck, then the breast, and so on. 

 The relationship of each part to the other must be considered 

 so as to get a lair idea of the strong and weak points in the 



