TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 33 



The loin is that portion of the top lying between the rear 

 edge of the back and the hips. It has no ribs below it, but 

 consists of large muscles, affording the very choicest cuts of 

 the entire carcass the porterhouse and sirloin. The loin should 

 be very wide and very thickly fleshed to afford as high develop- 

 ment of this part as possible. The covering of flesh should also 

 be smooth and firm. We like the loin to be thickly padded 

 and plumped up with muscle having the proper degree of fatness. 

 Such a loin may be described as a "live" loin one that exhibits 

 resiliency or springiness when handled. A loin that is flat and 

 that handles soft and "dead" is deficient in lean meat and has 

 too much fat. The loin-edge is sometimes rough and patchy, 

 due to an uneven distribution of the fat, whereas it should be 

 smooth and even. 



The hips should be laid in snugly, and nicely covered over 

 with flesh. The eye should not be able to locate the hip of a 

 well-fattened animal; only when the hands are used should the 

 point of the hip be possible of location. This helps to give the 

 smoothness desired in both the living animal and the carcass 

 which it ultimately yields. Wide hips cannot be covered over 

 with flesh, and the animal suffers a rough and ragged appear- 

 ance. 



The rump is the top between hips and tail-head. It should 

 be level so as to carry out the top line straight and square to 

 the end of the body. Some animals droop in the rump, and 

 some rise prominently; in each case the conformation is faulty. 

 The rump should be as long as possible and as wide as the rest 

 of the top. This permits a maximum fleshing and provides 

 the most attractive form. The width should be carried as 

 uniformly as possible from hips to end of rump. As the tail- 

 head is approached, there is bound to be some rounding off, 

 yet this does not mean that the end of the rump need be nar- 

 row or peaked. Rather it should be wide and plumped out 

 with flesh. Beef cattle very frequently exhibit roughness about 

 the tail-head or at the end of the rump on each side of the tail, 

 due to the accumulation of patches or gobs of fat. Smoothness 

 here indicates better fleshing qualities. 



The thigh begins at the border of the rump and extends 

 down the outside of the leg. It should be wide and plump 

 from every angle of view, and come down with some bulge on 

 the outside to where the thigh naturally narrows. The plump- 

 ness and thickness should carry down as close to the hock as 



