324 Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 



The belly should be straight, not paunchy, insuring a good dressing 

 percentage when the hog is killed. The belly should be trim, not 

 flabby, and should be wide rather than narrow or V-shaped. 



The rump should be long and as wide as the rest of the top, and it 

 should carry out from hips to end of body with a slight curve down- 

 ward to coincide with the arch of the entire top from head to tail. 

 Very often the rump will be found very steep or drooping, the hips 

 being carried too high and the tail set very low. Accompanying this 

 kind of a rump, and to a certain extent causing it, is a faulty position 

 of the hind legs, the feet being set too far under the body. This con- 

 stitutes a weak conformation of the hindquarter, and gives the animal 

 an ungainly appearance. The rump should not taper in width from 

 hips to end of body, but be uniform in width throughout. 



The hams really include the rump as well as the thighs and twist. 

 They should be large and well developed, being deep and of good width, 

 with the thickness and fullness carried well down toward the hocks. 

 They should be reasonably firm in flesh and should be neat in form. 

 Flabby and baggy hams are undesirable because they carry too much 

 outside fat and require too much trimming off before they can be sold. 

 Some hams lose 15 per cent in trimming at the packing house. 



The hind legs should be of medium length and should carry down 

 straight and vertical from the hocks to the ground. The pasterns 

 should be short, upright, and very strong, the feet well formed, and the 

 toes strong. The bone of the market hog should be of medium size 

 and free from coarseness. 



The hair should be straight rather than curly, and should be fine. 

 A harsh, bristly coat is an evidence of coarseness. A curly coat is 

 objectionable because curly hair is usually coarser than straight hair, 

 and curly-coated hogs do not shed their coats properly, which injures 

 the appearance. A swirl or rose in the hair on the back or rump 

 detracts from the appearance, and is objectionable for that reason. 

 The hair should be abundant, straight, and fine, and should lie close 

 to the skin. Such a coat affords the most protection and adds to the 

 attractiveness of appearance. 



The quality of the lard-type hog is determined by the refinement 

 of the head, hair, and bone, smoothness of finish, and freedom from 

 wrinkles and creases. The hog with quality has a clean-cut, well- 

 bred appearance that pleases not only the producer and hog fancier, 

 but also the butcher, because such a hog yields a neat, tidy carcass 

 that attracts buyers, and the cuts of meat show a refined texture that 

 is not to be found in the cuts from a coarse, rough hog. 



The proper finish of a lard-type hog is secured by a fairly high 

 degree of fattening. When handled along the top, below the shoulders, 



