Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



99 



a discount because of the heavy trimming necessary in selHng such 

 beef to the consumer trade. Changes in demands of consumers have 

 been a prominent factor in the swing away from old-fashioned heavy 

 bullocks to modern baby beeves. 



/6aby beeves are choice and prime fat cattle, between 12 and 18 

 months of age, weighing 800 to 1,000 pounds. Yearlings make 25 to 

 50 per cent more meat for the grain consumed than the same animals 

 would make if kept until two or three years of age. The small, com- 

 pact carcasses cut up with less waste, and furnish thick, light steaks 

 such as are most in demand, because they are cheaper and of a size 



Fig. 24. — Prime baby beef. Hereford steer, Peerless Wilton 39th's Defender, 

 grand champion at the International Live Stock Show in 1906. Bred and fed by 

 H. J. Fluck, Goodenow, 111. Shown by F. A. Nave, Attica, Ind. 



adapted for domestic use. Such cattle will not dress out quite as high 

 as older cattle, but the difference in percentage yield of carcass is due 

 to a greater amount of tallow in the older animal, which materially 

 lessens the older animal's superiority in this regard. The production 

 of baby beef necessitates starting the fattening process at birth and 

 carrying it on simultaneously with growth; the animal receives full 

 feed from start to finish. As stated by the Breeder's Gazette: "The 

 making of baby beef is a continuous performance which shows 365 

 days in the ordinary year and 366 days in the leap year. It is readily 



