176 LIVE-STOCK JUDGING 



than to the carcass, is flesh. Yet there should be dis- 

 crimination in the use of this term. To speak of eating 

 the flesh of animals implies a meaning identical with meat, 

 but reference to the natural flesh or the thick flesh, of 

 feeder steers, for instance, includes the muscle only, with- 

 out the fat, and therein lies the distinction. Whereas the 

 muscle that is most efficient for movement is of such firm 

 texture and so devoid of any fat as to render it tough, the 

 chief feature of the muscle which constitutes the desirable 

 lean of meat is just the reverse. 



The function of meat-producing animals is the conver- 

 sion of common foodstuffs, in a form not available to man, 

 into a concentrated, palatable, easily digested form of 

 protein and fat. 



The profit returned by them is divided between the 

 breeder who produces them, the feeder who finishes 

 them, the butcher or packer who dresses and wholesales 

 their carcasses, and the retailer who purveys them to 

 the consumers, their ultimate end. It is rare, except in 

 the case of production for limited farm 'or home use, that 

 one and the same individual is concerned with each step. 



185. The breeder's, the feeder's and the butcher's inter- 

 ests in the meat animal. Success, on the breeder's part, 

 consists in producing an animal that is a satisfactory 

 butcher prospect acceptable to the feeder. The feeder's 

 business is to secure, in the shortest feeding period and 

 with the most economic and productive use of food, the 

 most highly finished and satisfactory butcher beast. 

 The butcher's proposition is to obtain, in the dressed 

 animal, as high a percentage of his gross live weight as 

 possible and to have the maximum amount of the dressed 

 weight carried in those parts of the carcass for which there 

 is greatest demand and the highest price paid. The re- 



