200 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. 



of that the end of all is the meat, and the quality of it 

 This is the only useful part to the consumer. The more meal 

 there is in a twenty pound quarter, and the less bone, the 

 better the animal is; for whatever less of actual meat there 

 may be, the more there is in proportion of bone and worth- 

 less stuff. And to secure this desired condition too it is better 

 to feed a longer time, than to rush the feeding through by too 

 liberal rations. The fat made now is not wanted in the 

 meat, and not laid all on it on the outside of the carcass. 

 The actual appearance of the carcasses, as shown by the 

 photograph on the previous page, of the first and third lots 

 of lambs, the first being fed grain from birth, and the 

 third only three months before marketing, goes to show the 

 inside appearance of what good condition is, and how it se- 

 cures that economy in the final use of the meat, which justi- 

 fies the butcher in giving a higher price for the best car- 

 casses, as well as in exacting a higher price from the house- 

 keeper who is quite willing to pay it as a simple matter 

 of domestic economy. The feeder will work with more light 

 and better success, who understands fully what this term, 

 condition, signifies. 



In the previous illustration we may readily select the 

 best conditioned lamb by the rounder back; the more even 

 distribution of the fat with the lean, and the larger volume 

 of the lean as it is surrounded by the loin fat. This is the 

 result of the smooth, broader back taken as one of the 

 tests of condition of the sheep. We may readily perceive 

 that this is one of the results of breeding as well as of feed- 

 ing, and is as much due to the rams used as to the good 

 feeding of the ewes while carrying their lambs, and the 

 skillful feeding of the lambs. 



