136 FEEDING FARM ANIMALS 



usually condensed in the terms in which it is expressed. 

 It is intended to show the student the relative value of 

 each particular factor or requisite of form, but it is not 

 adapted for use in the show ring, because of the time con- 

 sumed in using it thus. When judging by the score card 

 blank spaces for the numerals are filled in by the student, 

 according to his judgment of the merits of the various 

 points of the animal which he is judging, and the sum of 

 these indicates his judgment of the standing of the animal 

 in relation to perfection. 



These standards, as usually drawn up, are intended 

 and very properly so, to indicate the perfect animal of its 

 kind or class. In some instances, indications of function 

 are also given as well as those of form. It is very evident, 

 however, that correct form in the same animal will apply 

 very differently, at least in some phases thereof, according 

 as the animal is in high flesh, moderately high flesh, or lean. 

 This means that the standard of perfection for meat-mak- 

 ing animals in good flesh as given in the standards, will 

 not furnish a sufficient guide for the person who is select- 

 ing animals for feeding. For instance, the standard for the 

 beef cattle beast in good flesh calls for full crops. Should 

 the animal be lower in flesh, the crops will not be full, and 

 so of various other points of conformation. But the meas- 

 ure of fulness in the crops of lean animals varies greatly, 

 and the ability to distinguish between these, so as to know 

 whether future good feeding will fill the crops or not, and 

 how far it will fill them, is of great moment to those en- 

 gaged in producing meat. The ability to judge animals 

 prospectively with reference to future development is much 

 more rare than ability to judge the standing of the finished 

 animal. Cattle, sheep and swine, purchased with a view to 

 growing or fattening them, or for both uses, are usually 

 purchased while in moderate, or even in a low condition of 

 flesh. To purchase these on the basis of standards drawn 

 up to represent the animal in perfect condition as to flesh, 

 would be misleading. 



