254 JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



lion and their readiness for the block. One animal might 

 have a form of excellent balance, but be so thin in flesh, if 

 fat animals are up for comparison, as not to be entitled 

 to as high rank as others in better condition for killing. 

 A detailed examination and comparison is necessary, fol- 

 lowing the more general one. It is desirable, in the case 

 of cattle for slaughter, to go over each animal carefully, 

 comparing those parts the butcher most emphasizes and 

 values. Therefore, a study of the backs, as to width and 

 depth of covering, and a comparison of hindquarters, as to 

 flesh-carrying capacity and thickness and depth of con- 

 formation is essential. In the show ring where competi- 

 tion is severe, such as at the International Live Stock Ex- 

 position, it is impossible to win with a fat steer that is 

 open to serious criticism of back or hindquarter. Plain- 

 ness of head and shoulder might be overlooked to some 

 extent, but not of the more essential parts from the 

 butcher's standpoint. The covering of flesh as to smooth- 

 ness, depth and firmness, will also receive much careful 

 attention, and when the cattle are at last placed in their 

 relative order of merit, it will be found that condition has 

 had a very important part in the placing. No set rule can 

 be applied as to which animal should be placed first. It 

 may be comparatively easy to select out the one entitled 

 to first rank, and perhaps no trouble at all to locate the 

 most inferior individual, but second and third places are 

 frequently difficult to decide. The second animal must 

 be compared with the first, and for well-defined reasons 

 given its place, but so also this second placing over the 

 third must be satisfactorily made. Certainly, as one goes 

 down the line, after making the placings, each individual 

 in order of rank should show more actual merit and fewer 

 defects than the one next below in the line. Interesting 

 and profitable comparative study of certain parts may be 

 made. For example, the heads and necks may be compared 

 and ranked in order of merit. So, in the same way, other 

 parts may be specially compared, as the bodies, hind- 



