160 



Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



than bulls, but the rump should be as long, level, wide, and smoothly 

 fleshed as possible. 



So far as condition is concerned, it must be remembered that the 

 breeding cow is more valuable on account of the progeny she produces 

 than on account of her own excellence as an animal suitable for slaugh- 

 ter, hence we do not fault her if she lacks in fatness, provided her 

 constitution, form, and quality are good. However, the beef cow must 

 possess the ability to fatten readily, for "like produces like," and if 

 the cow will not take on flesh readily, then we cannot expect her calves 

 to be profitable in the feed-lot. It is on this account that beef breeding 



Fig. 53. — Correct type in the beef cow. Fair Start 2d, a noted Shorthorn 

 show cow owned by George J. Sayer, McHenry, 111. 



bulls and cows are shown in heavy flesh in the show ring, thus indicat- 

 ing their capacity as beef producers. Beef cows are sometimes made 

 so fat for showing that their usefulness as breeders is injured by a 

 heavy deposit of fat about the generative organs. The practice has, 

 therefore, been severely criticized, yet the danger is not great if the 

 feeding is carefully managed, and the advantages so far outweigh the 

 disadvantages that the showing of breeding animals in high condition 

 seems destined to continue. 



In the show ring, little or no attention is paid to the udder of the 

 beef cow, but the man who breeds beef cattle cannot ignore the cow's 



