MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 283 



human nature it would. There is a good deal of truth in the 

 adage which says: "A man convinced against his will is of the 

 same opinion still," which applies to the double-handed system 

 of judging, as there is no doubt many a judge has given way to 

 his partner's stand to get through more speedily with the work. 

 It is true that where the single judge system is employed some- 

 times a judge is undecided as to the merits of the two leading 

 contestants and refers the matter to a referee, but in such in- 

 stances it is safe to say that no matter which animal he placed in 

 the premier position there would be little room for complaint 

 from any one. The double-handed system of judging has no 

 serious considerations to recommend it, while the single-handed 

 system has several, among the most prominent being dispatch in 

 placing the awards and nullifying the chance of a judge screen- 

 ing himself behind a co-worker. 



It has been asserted that unless a judge is pretty much in 

 practice his hands lose the "touch" or "feel" of an animal, which 

 may be more or less true. A judge should be able to detect readily 

 a "hard-doer" from the thrifty animal, and the blubbery one from 

 that in full bloom. An animal in full bloom is alert, firm in flesh, 

 yet mellow and elastic to the touch, against that which is over- 

 done and consequently blubbery, stupid, "weak on the pins" and 

 useless. In regard to mellowness of touch the following from the 

 Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England is of in- 

 terest: "Another point very much insisted on by the feeder is 

 that the animal should have a mellow feel. This 'mellowness' is 

 a kind of softness and elasticity perceived in pressing the skin, 

 and is considered a favorable sign of the aptitude of an animal 

 to fatten. Fat consists of little vesicles lodged within a modifica- 

 tion of cellular tissue, to which the name of adipose tissue has been 

 given; but it is, in fact, cellular tissue. This cellular tissue con- 

 sists of elastic fibres, and is distributed through every part of the 

 body, so completely, indeed, that, could we conceive that all the 

 remaining parts of the body were removed except this, a complete 

 model of it would be left by the cellular tissue. The resiliency 

 of the skin, or mellowness, as it is termed by farmers, is due to the 

 proper condition and amount of the cellular tissue. In the healthy 

 state of an animal the interstices of the cellular tissue are filled 

 with a fluid secreted from the blood. Hence, on pressing the skin, 

 this fluid is pressed out of these interstices into the adjoining 

 ones which by their elasticity immediately return it on the re- 

 moval of the pressure. But when an animal is not in a thriving 

 state, the fibres of the cellular tissue lose their elasticity and the 

 skin pits on pressure. The resiliency of the skin, therefore, indi- 

 cates the. state and amount of the cellular tissue. Without an 

 abundance of this tissue a sufficiency of fat cannot be formed, 

 and hence we find farmers examining the resiliency or mellowness 



