FITTING SHEEP FOR SHOW RING AND MARKET. 205 



PART VI. 



Slaughtering and Dressing Sheep and Lambs for Market. 



HAT appears under this heading is the outgrowth 

 of several years' practical experience by the 

 writer in the slaughtering and dressing of sheep- 

 and lambs intended for display before the aristo- 

 cratic patron and the aristocratic butcher of 

 both this and the old country. 



In England, where the writer spent many of 

 his youthful days as a "knight of the cleaver," butchering, as 

 a trade, is carried on, on lines bordering perfection. I have 

 never yet had the privilege of seeing displayed in any coun- 

 try the carcasses of animals so beautifully dressed as those 

 prepared by the butchers in England, the elegant, flowery, 

 finished style of dressing approaching a real work of art. 



The reason of this is clearly apparent when it is understood 

 that one has to serve a two or three years' apprenticeship to 

 the business in addition to the payment of a premium of 

 from $250 to $500 before he becomes the possessor of the 

 countersign that passes him on to the lucrative employment 

 with an up-to-date purveyor of meat. 



The writer looks back with fond remembrance and pride 

 to the time when at the age of 20 he held the position of 

 first in slaughterhouse to one of the old country's most 

 prominent butchers. 



