232 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



of carcasses are, lambs, 15 to 50 pounds; yearlings, 40 to 60 pounds; 

 wethers, 40 to 120 pounds; bucks, 45 to 200 pounds; ewes, 50 to 200 

 pounds. The most desired weights for a lamb carcass are 40 to 45 

 pounds; for mutton carcasses, 50 to 65-pound weights are most desired. 

 As with beef, heavy carcasses are demanded by hotels, restaurants, and 

 dining cars. 



5. Maturity. — As has been mentioned, the demand for Iamb far 

 exceeds the demand for mutton, and the price of lamb is considerably 

 higher. The packers' interpretation of the word "lamb" is broader 

 than the ordinary understanding of the term, for both lambs and year- 

 lings yield a "lamb" carcass. Mutton carcasses are those of wethers 

 two years old or over, ewes, bucks, and stags. The maturity of the 

 carcass may be easily determined with a fair degree of accuracy from 

 the bones; in lambs the brisket is soft and red, and the ribs and shank 



Fig. 79. — Break-joints and round-joint. In dressing mature sheep, the feet 

 are taken off at the ankle, leaving a round-joint on the end of the shank bone. Im- 

 mediately above the ankle in immature stock is a temporary joint, called the break- 

 joint, at which the feet are removed. Thus the head of the shank bone as well as 

 the foot is removed, leaving the saw-toothed break-joint on the end of the shank 

 bone. As the animal matures, the break-joint ossifies or knits. Pincers are some- 

 times used to crush off those which are partly ossified. This leaves an imperfect 

 break-joint. The shank bones of mature sheep will not break. At the left above 

 is a true break-joint, at the right a round-joint, and in the center a crushed break- 

 joint from a nearly mature sheep. 



bones are colored by blood vessels; in mature sheep the bones are white 

 and hard. However, the hreak-joint furnishes the best means of dis- 

 tinguishing lambs and yearlings from mature sheep. The break-joint 

 or lamb-joint is a temporary cartilage which forms in the head of the 

 shank (shin bone) immediately above the ankle. In dressing lambs, 

 yearling wethers, and some yearling ewes, the foot can be broken off 

 at this cartilage, giving the end of the shank a saw-tooth shape. In 

 lambs the broken surface is smooth and moist, and in yearlings it is 



