igo8.} MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF SHEEP. 583 



and have narrow bodies and long necks, but they are unequaled in 

 the fineness of their features and their lightness of pelt. Without 

 their high development of general quality they would not receive 

 favorable consideration from buyers, but because of it, when fat, 

 they top the market. 



(2) Quality of Flesh and Condition. The terms quality and 

 condition are frequently used interchangeably on the market, and 

 chiefly because the quality of flesh is largely dependent upon con- 

 dition. By condition is meant the degree of fatness of a lamb. 

 The reasons why a lamb should be fat are: (a) Other things 

 being equal, there will not be as high a percentage of offal as in 

 the half fat, or the thin lamb; (b) the fat adds to the attractive- 

 ness of the carcass, and thus makes it more inviting to the pur- 

 chaser; (c) the comparatively fat carcass loses less in weight in 

 the process of "cooling out" in the refrigerator and also in cook- 

 ing; (d) some fat on the outside of the lean meat and a consider- 

 able amount deposited through it adds to its palatability by making 

 it more juicy and of better flavor. 



Desirable quality of flesh is indicated by firmness along the 

 back, at the loins, over the sides and at the leg of mutton. "Hard 

 as a board" is a favorite phrase with many sheepmen to describe a 

 back having desirable quality of flesh, but with this single idea in 

 mind bareness or lack of flesh might be mistaken for firmness of 

 flesh. While the flesh should have that firmness which would im- 

 press an inexperienced man as being hard, it should have just 

 enough springiness to yield slightly to the touch. 



It is rarely that lambs are made too fat for the prime grade 

 but very often they fail to grade as prime because they are not fat 

 enough. Because lambs are finished for market before they have 

 ceased growing, they do not have the tendency to lay on fat in 

 large, soft bunches at the rump and in rolls at the girth, and hence 

 it is difficult to carry them to the point of excessive fatness. The 

 development of fat essential to the prime lamb is indicated by a 

 thick dock, a full, mellow purse, thickness and smoothness on the 

 back and over the ribs, fullness at the neck and flanks, and a plump, 

 well filled breast. 



It is impossible to tell with exactness, by merely looking at it, 

 the condition of a lamb in the wool and hence it is necessary to 

 judge condition by placing the hands on the animal. Experts rely 

 upon placing the hand but once, for example, by spreading the hand 

 so that the back and ribs will be touched by one stroke, or by grasp- 

 ing the loin, or by getting the thickness and fullness of the dock, 

 but none risk their judgment upon sight alone. A great deal is 



