TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 41 



dressing a carcass is less than 40 minutes. The beef remains 

 in the coolers from one to two weeks before it is ready for the 

 market, the temperature being kept at about 38 degrees Fahren- 

 heit. Prime meats require three to four weeks ageing in a 

 refrigerator to arrive at their best. 



The offal. The feet, head, hide, internal organs, loose fat, 

 blood, and contents of stomach and intestines are collectively 

 called the offal or waste of the steer, so called because formerly, 

 with the exception of the tongue, hide, and tallow, this offal 

 was thrown away. Today all of it is valuable for manufactur- 

 ing into various by-products. (See Chapter III.) 



The dressing percentage. By comparing the weight of 

 the chilled carcass with the live weight of the animal, the per- 

 centage of carcass, or what is called the dressing percentage, 

 is determined. This is a very important point in determining 

 the market price of a steer, and the buyer always estimates 

 the dressing percentage when bidding on a load of cattle. For 

 instance, suppose we have a steer of 1,200 pounds weight on foot. 

 When dressed, the carcass weighs say 720 pounds. The dressing 

 percentage would then be 60 per cent. Now suppose we have 

 two loads of 25 steers each. The average live weight of the 

 steers in each load is 1,200 pounds. When slaughtered one load 

 dresses 60 per cent., and the other 57 ^ per cent. Each load 

 had a total live weight of 30,000 pounds. When dressed, one 

 load yields 2>^ per cent, higher than the other, a difference of 

 750 pounds of carcass a difference exceeding the weight of a 

 single carcass. The total dressed weight of the 25 steers in the 

 best load was 18,000 pounds; 26 steers of the lower dressing kind 

 would not yield this weight of carcasses by 60 pounds. We will 

 suppose each lot of carcasses brought a wholesale price of $20 

 per cwt. Then 750 pounds of carcass amounts to $150, which 

 is the difference in the income from the sale of the two lots of 

 carcasses. This amounts to $6 per head in favor of the high 

 dressers. In handling thousands of animals, as do the large 

 packing firms, the question of dressing percentage is a very 

 important one. The range in the dressing percentages of cattle 

 is from 35 to 70 per cent. 



The chief factors determining the dressing percentage of 

 a steer, in the order of their importance are: (1) fatness, (2) 

 paunchiness, and (3) quality of bone and hide. Aged dairy 

 cows which have outlived their usefulness as milk producers 

 are sent to market; they are very paunchy and very thin, and 



