30 FORM, FUNCTION, AND CAPACITY 



prudent or profitable. In selecting live stock, therefore, 

 special consideration should be given to the indications of 

 normal development at maturity. 



The size of the bone as exemplified in the canon of the 

 horse, and in the leg of the steer, the hog, and the sheep are 

 directly associated with the size and weight of an animal 

 at maturity. The animal which inclines to fatten early 

 in life before normal development has been reached does 

 not possess the structural units to perfect normal maturity 

 upon which the profits from live stock usually depend. In- 

 dications of the probable development are in evidence in 

 the condition which an animal assumes as related to bone, 

 muscle, and fat formation. The young animal or the 

 matured animal low in condition indicate their probable 

 maximum attainments by the character of the framework. 

 While the spare, open development is characteristic only of 

 the dairy animal, a certain degree of it is necessary in the 

 other types in order that they may attain the maximum 

 degree of size, form and finish. Early fattening qualities, 

 except under certain specialized conditions, such as in the 

 baby beef animal or other early market maturing quali- 

 fications, as fixed by farm practice, are antagonistic to 

 maximum development. Animal attainments relating to size 

 are measured almost entirely by the foundation structure 

 imposed in the bony framework. 



Muscular Development. With the exception of the dairy 

 cow and wool sheep, the value of domestic animals is directly 

 or indirectly dependent on the degree of muscle formation. 

 The value of the beef animal, the mutton sheep, and the 

 fat or bacon hog is directly dependent on this attribute. 

 The value of the draft horse, heavy and light harness horses, 

 saddle horses and ponies are dependent on this qualifica- 

 tion, yet in each the manifestation of it is developed in a 

 different form of energy or work. In the dairy cow and 

 the wool sheep the muscular development is of secondary 

 importance because the usefulness of these animals is meas- 

 ured by their capacity to produce products not dependent 

 on the degree of muscle formation. The dairy cow produces 

 milk, the maximum degree of muscle and fat formation 



