Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 221 



ment of thigh and twist will be found, although a maximum develop- 

 ment is always demanded. 



The hocks and hind legs should be strong and placed well apart. 

 When the hocks are close together, the thigh and twist usually lack a 

 full development. Crooked, weak hocks, either badly sickled or bowed, 

 are rather common and are very undesirable. The legs should be short 

 and straight, and show refinement of bone and joints. The hind 

 pasterns are also given attention in judging, for it is by no means un- 

 common to find them broken down and weak so as to impair the use- 

 fulness of the animal to a marked degree. They should carry up strong, 

 so as to bring the weight full on the toes. 



The skin should be of a bright pink color and free from dark- 

 colored spots. The pink color is an indication of health and thrift, 

 while a white or bluish color shows an unthrifty condition. Some 

 breeds excel in this respect, and others characteristically show a rather 

 dark color due to the presence of pigment in the skin, in which case 

 the dark color is not necessarily an evidence of unthriftiness. The 

 dark-faced breeds often have a pigmented skin over the body, and with 

 this fault is often associated the fault of having black fibers in the fleece. 



The quality of the mutton-type sheep is shown by the fineness of 

 the head and bone, fineness of the wool, and fineness and softness of 

 the hair on the face and legs. Quality is also shown by the smoothness 

 of the animal, both in frame and in fleshing. Coarse shoulders, an 

 angular build, and uneven flesh show lack of quality in a mutton sheep. 

 These are important features in either breeding or fat sheep. Quality 

 and good breeding are usually associated. Well-bred animals respond 

 best when fed and fattened for the market. The butcher likes quality 

 because it insures high quality of meat, and indicates little waste when 

 the sheep is killed and dressed. A sheep of good quality yields an 

 attractive carcass with smooth, even outlines. 



The condition, or fatness, of a sheep may be determined by an 

 examination of six points, these being the spinal covering, the neck, the 

 breast, the fore flank, the dock, and the purse. ^ The first of these is 

 by far the most important, as it insures a good finish where it is most 

 valuable, namely in the high-priced cuts. The covering over the back 

 and loin should be such that the top is smooth and the backbone not 

 easily felt. The neck and breast of a well-finished sheep are plump, 

 the fore flank is well filled, the dock is found thick when grasped in 

 the fingers, and the purse is well filled with fat. Sheep that have been 

 over-fed often have bunches of soft fat at the end of the rump, and a 

 blubbery mass of fat at the fore flank. Sheep that have much loose 



iThe purse is the scrotum of the wether and its content of fat, the same as the 

 cod of the steer. 



