30 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



taken on properly, and, when slaughtered, the carcass lacks 

 the smooth, tidy appearance so much desired. A prominent 

 shoulder also causes the development behind it to appear in- 

 sufficient. 



The brisket and chest are highly important. The former 

 should carry forward prominent and wide, and be well fleshed, 

 yet neat, presenting a full, well-developed, and trim appear^ 

 ance. The chest, which lies between the shoulders and imme- 

 diately behind them, ought to be very wide and deep. Too 

 much width and depth are never found. A full, deep chest 

 with large heart-girth indicates a rugged sort of animal possessed 

 of much constitutional vigor. The floor of the chest should 

 be wide, as shown by the distance between the two fore legs, 

 provided width at this point is not due merely to prominent, 

 open shoulders which set the fore legs wide apart. The fore- 

 rib, lying just behind the shoulder, should not be flat, but should 

 arch boldly so that no flatness or depression exists immediately 

 behind the shoulder. Many beef animals present a hollowness 

 or flatness of fore-rib which detracts much from the desired 

 smoothness of conformation, and reduces the chest capacity. 

 Care should be taken to see that the animal carries down deep 

 and full at the front flanks just behind the elbows. The butcher 

 cares nothing for a beef animal's constitution, but every intelli- 

 gent feeder places great emphasis on the depth and width of 

 chest, which indicate to him that the steer will be a good doer 

 in the feed-lot. Briefly summing up all the points in the descrip- 

 tion thus far, we may say that the f orequarters should be smooth- 

 ly laid, smoothly and thickly fleshed, and very wide and deep, 

 showing no lack of constitution anywhere. 



The front legs should be short and placed squarely under 

 the animal. They should come straight down, and the toes 

 should point straight ahead. For reasons already given, the 

 fore legs should be set well apart. The arm should be wide 

 and muscular at its attachment to the shoulder. Fineness of 

 bone and smoothness of joints are evidences of quality, whereas 

 rough, coarse animals have heavy joints and big shank bones. 



The back carries great weight, and it is desirable that it 

 be straight and strong. When some people refer to the back 

 they include the entire top of the animal from shoulders to tail. 

 Others mean the top from shoulders to hips. The score card 

 restricts the meaning of this term to that portion of the top 

 lying between the shoulders and the last rib, which is some 



