204 CATTLE 



strong feeder and is also most essential with the breeding female. 

 With bulls and steers a very close coupling between the hips 

 and last ribs or all the ribs, in fact, is desired, but with cows for 

 breeding purposes a greater length meets with favor. The depth 

 at front and hind flank, with a thick, full feel at the latter, are 

 associated with superior form and condition. 



The hips should be well placed, snugly laid, and, with finished 

 steers, be well covered with flesh. A wide hip in the bull is 

 undesirable, for such a feature may be transmitted and be a source 

 of danger to the cow on birth of wide-hipped offspring. A greater 

 width and more prominence of hip is allowable among the cows, 

 although occasionally one sees the hip too wide and rough. 



The rump of a beef animal, no matter what the kind, should 

 be long from hip to point of body, of great width, and com- 

 paratively level. This not only promotes a maximum of flesh 

 production but gives a more beautiful form and offers a con- 

 formation better suited to the breeding female than does any other. 

 A droopy, peaked rump is a defective conformation, obstructs 

 easy calving, may reduce flesh capacity, and certainly detracts 

 from beauty of form. With beef cattle in condition the rumps 

 are sometimes rough about the tail head or at each side of the 

 tail. Smoothness and fullness here indicate better fleshing qualities. 



The hind quarter, viewed from behind, should be quite thick, 

 coming down perpendicularly on the outside to where the thigh 

 naturally narrows. On the inside a thick, broad edge, with much 

 depth from tail head to a full, well-turned twist, should be appar- 

 ent. From one side the hind quarter will appear long and broad, 

 with considerable depth of flesh to the rear. The whole will 

 appear thick and smoothly covered with flesh. 



The hocks and legs indicate the capacity for fleshing at the 

 hind end. If the hocks are strong, muscular, clean, and well 

 placed, with no special tendency to come together, they will be 

 generally associated with thicker-fleshed quarters than otherwise. 

 The legs should stand squarely under the animal, so that a plumb 

 line dropped from the point of the thurls will bisect the hock and 

 the shank bone of the leg below. Crooked hocks are bad, showing 

 weak conformation and ugly form. When the hocks tend to 

 come together at the points a very common thing the toes 



