36 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



flesh as it is possible to obtain. When a steer is fat it is rather 

 difficult to determine how much natural flesh he has. In order 

 to estimate this it is necessary to examine the development 

 of flesh in those parts which take on very little fat, as for example 

 the thighs, arm, and neck. Width in the crops is another good 

 indication of heavy muscling. 



The proportion of muscle in the make-up of an animal is 

 evident at birth (See Fig. 13), and feeding will not increase it 

 beyond a very narrow limit. Henry and Morrison of the Wis- 

 consin Station* discuss this point as follows: "Since the lean- 

 meat tissues of the body are composed mostly of muscular 

 fibers, any gain in these tissues can be caused solely by an in- 

 crease in the number or by the thickening of these fibers. The 

 fibers increase in number by dividing lengthwise, which process 

 occurs with farm animals only while young and growing. Indeed, 

 recent investigations show that with some animals all increase 

 in the number of muscular fibers occurs before birth, the muscles 

 of the new born young containing as many as those of the mature 

 animal. The fibers of the muscles can thicken to only a limited 

 extent, and hence the muscular tissues, or lean meat, of the 

 mature animal cannot be increased beyond a relatively narrow 

 limit, compared with the great storage of fat which may occur." 



A starving animal draws upon its muscular tissue to support 

 life, and will rapidly repair its tissues upon a return to favorable 

 conditions, but from the standpoint of farm and feed-lot con- 

 ditions this fact does not enter into consideration and therefore 

 does not alter the statements which are here made. The only 

 factors which the feeder has under his control are growth and 

 fatness. If the animal is mature, feeding is almost exclusively 

 a fattening process; if the animal is not mature, fattening is 

 accompanied by growth in bone and muscle. Practically speak- 

 ing, we can no more increase the proportionate amount of muscle 

 by feeding than we can add quality, or a better head, or a 

 straighter top line. All these are breeding problems not 

 feeding problems. Feeding will fatten a steer, increase his 

 weight, and improve his form and appearance, but it has little 

 or no effect upon the proportion of natural flesh in his make-up. 

 The degree of fatness shown by a steer is referred to as his "con- 

 dition," and this feature will now be discussed. 



* Feeds and Feeding, p. 75. 



