242 LIVE-STOCK JUDGING 



lean and fat, a somewhat lighter color and the incomplete 

 ossification of the so-called " break" joints of the knees 

 and hocks, viz., the union between the centers of ossifica- 

 tion in the end and the shaft of the forearm and lower 

 thigh bones, respectively. The division of the carcass is 

 shown in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 120) . 



250. The mutton carcass cuts (Fig. 120). The mutton 

 carcass is not usually split at first but instead is divided 

 into two transverse halves, a saddle and a rack, the cut 

 being made between the twelfth and thirteenth ribs. The 

 posterior or back half, the saddle, is subsequently divided 

 into the leg of mutton and the loin, the forward half or 

 rack into the short rack, chuck and breast. 



251. The saddle, which weighs slightly less than the 

 rack, is cut at the point of the hip or margin of the loin 

 into the legs of mutton, which are afterward separated 

 and trimmed, and the loin, the former being about twice 

 as heavy as the latter. 



252. The rack, counting forward ten ribs from the 

 saddle end, is cut between the second and third ribs. 

 The upper part of this section of the rack constitutes the 

 short rack, the lower part the breast, the line of division 

 being more or less arbitrarily determined, as in the steer. 

 The short rack represents from two thirds to three fourths 

 the value of the rack, although but about two fifths its 

 weight. The balance of the carcass, including and in 

 front of the second rib, is the chuck, or shoulder and, 

 with the breast, is designated the stew. 



The highest priced cuts are taken from the short rack 

 (rib chops), the leg of mutton, the loin (loin chops) and 

 the stew, in the order named. Sheep dress 45-63% of 

 their live weight, yearlings averaging a higher percentage 

 than lambs. 



