THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMALS ^5 



large than in small breeds. The nature -of the food pro- 

 vided, more than any other influence, accounts for the differ- 

 ence in size referred to. The luxuriant and somewhat 

 coarse grasses of Lincolnshire, England, have produced the 

 largest breed of sheep in the world. The fine, short grasses 

 of the Downs in proximity to the English channel, have 

 produced one of the smallest breeds, the Southdown. The 

 fibre or grain of the meat in the Southdown is much finer 

 than in the Lincoln. Similarly coarse fodders will produce 

 coarser fibre than fine fodders. Thus, if a long enough time 

 were given, the Southdown could, in the fibre of its meat, 

 be transformed into a Lincoln and vice versa. Of course, 

 fineness of fibre enhances the quality of meat. 



The tenderness or toughness of meat is markedly in- 

 fluenced by age, but it is also greatly influenced by the 

 food and the manner of feeding it. Succulence in food is 

 one of the most potent influences in producing tenderness 

 and also juiciness in meat. Lamb grown and finished on 

 such foods as succulent bluegrass and rape, will furnish 

 meat more tender and juicy than lamb grown on the less 

 succulent grasses of the range. Beef made from feeding 

 corn ensilage or field roots freely to cattle that are being 

 fattened is more tender and juicy than that made from 

 feeding dry food only. Similarly the meat of aged animals 

 is more tender when they have been brought up quickly 

 from a low to a high condition of flesh than when the feed- 

 ing period is slower and more prolonged, owing probably to 

 the short period given to the newly formed tissue to firm 

 and harden as it otherwise would. 



The tenderness of meat is much influenced by the pro- 

 portion of the fat to the lean, and by the way in which it 

 is distributed. There is a constant relation between lean- 

 ness and toughness and high condition and tenderness and 

 juiciness. Even the lean of a fat carcass will be more 

 tender than the lean of a lean carcass, and it will be much 

 more juicy. But both tenderness and juiciness in meat 

 are more influenced by the manner in which the fat is 



