THE TYPES 191 



rump long, broad, level and smooth, showing no coarseness 

 of bone about the tail head and no unevenness of covering, 

 in the nature of patches, about the tail head or pin bones ; 

 thighs broad, thick, and deep, well rounded in appearance 

 from any angle and especially full and low in the region of 

 the inner, lower thigh, known as the twist on account of 

 the rotation of those muscles which takes place when the 

 carcass is hung up by the hamstring, the juncture of the 

 two thighs being referred to as the seam of the twist ; 

 the legs short, straight, strong and fine boned. 



210. Quality in the steer influences the dressing per- 

 centage by controlling the amount of waste or offal. It 

 also makes a higher grade carcass, quality of hide and 

 hair, for instance, being correlated with quality of lean 

 and fat. Quality is of hide and hair, indicated in a 

 loose, medium thin, pliable, unctuous hide covered with a 

 medium coat of fine, soft, straight hair and determined 

 by handling; of bone, as evidenced in a comparatively 

 small, fine head and horn, smooth shoulders, hooks and 

 pins, small cannons, and clearly defined joints ; of flesh, 

 as shown by an even, smooth covering over the back, 

 loin and rib with no rolls or patches of fat and neither too 

 soft nor too hard a feel. Quality is also concerned with 

 general trimness and refinement of the animal throughout, 

 indicative of breeding. 



211. Condition has most to do with the weight that is 

 left in the carcass after dressing away the offal. Of 

 course, internal fat increases the amount of waste, but 

 every pound of fat fed into the carcass itself increases the 

 dressed weight and therefore the percentage of live 

 weight, that much. Show animals regularly dress more 

 than ordinary market toppers, chiefly because they are 

 fatter. Condition is ripeness and until the steer has 



