94 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK i. 



ance. Every inch of additional width obtained by this point in the 

 " rear third " of a fattening ox, gives a " cut " one inch in thickness, 

 and in surface extending from top to bottom, something worth trying 

 to get for the butcher and the cook. 



When a hind-quarter " holds its width well back " in the beast, it 

 carries a larger weight of meat than the hind-quarter which " narrows 

 in quickly " back from the hip. In conclusion, let the breeder bear in 

 mind that a perfect contour in a fattening beast gives such an evenness 

 to the flesh in all parts of the bod} r , so well distributed, to use another 

 phrase, that it is difficult to tell where one " point " ends and the next 

 begins. 



Although not connected with contour, but closely related to the 

 subject of good flesh, which it is the object of contour to lay evenly 

 upon the frame of the fattening beast, is that of the " texture " of 

 the flesh, the importance of which it is impossible to over-estimate, 

 notwithstanding that it is a detail generally over-looked by breeders, 

 and often by butchers. The feel or touch is supposed popularly 

 to indicate the texture of the meat, but Dr. Sprague very properly 

 points out that it is not a correct, often indeed a very mis- 

 leading, guide. Texture can only be judged correctly by the eye ; 

 and, as said above, it is not all breeders, even good ones, who can tell 

 what it is. Good meat should not have its fibres so distinctly visible 

 that they may be seen like layers of veneer or thick cardboard laid side 

 by side ; but they should so run into and blend with one another that 

 it is not easy to say where one ends and the other begins. Colour, 

 too, we may also here remark, is a good test of meat. Blue-toned and 

 dull-looking meat is not good, neither is dark sombre-tinted. It should 

 be clear, ruddy, and fresh-looking. 



As regards general contour of cattle, an animal is supposed to be 

 well fattened and filled up to have, in fact, good form if, when looked 

 at sideways, it has a rectangular shape. This is popularly called 

 " square," but of course is not truly so. The dotted lines in 

 figs. 38, 39, 40, and 41, indicate what is meant ; the rectangle in these 

 is made up of two rectangles of equal length, owing to the top and 

 bottom lines being taken along the back and belly lines of the animal, 

 and in a direction parallel to the ground line, g I. 



The diagrams not only illustrate our remarks as to "points," &c., 

 but enable comparative observations to be made of different animals, 

 showing how the position, form, &c. of the " points " vary in these animals, 

 The figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the rectangle give distance-points 

 from which the position of the various "points," and their forms, may 

 be ascertained. For example, the point 4 (see figs. 38 to 41) gives the 

 distance-point for measuring the position of " brisket" b. (See fig. 42 

 for positions and designations of " points " of cattle ; also fig. 43 or 

 index of points in a typical specimen of the Aberdeen- Angus breed). 

 The point 2 gives the means of measuring or noting the fall or 

 depression of the back a, and the distance a a shows the depth of 

 " barrel ; " the figure 5 the rise 5 to d of the " plates ; " the figure 6 the 

 distance of the thigh or hough e ; the figure 1 the position of the " pin 



