EVOLUTION OF THE BEEF CATTLE INDUSTRY 223 



viewpoint, there is still a field for improvement which is 

 magnified many times, compared with the improvement 

 which has been made in the past. 



Beef Cattle Products and Their Uses. — The uses of beef 

 cattle products are varied. In former years, before the advent 

 of modern abattoirs, practically the only parts utilized were 

 the carcass proper, the hide, and certain edible parts of the 

 viscera. Modern methods of killmg and handling cattle 

 products have made it possible to utilize almost every part 

 of the carcass. This has been of special importance to the 

 producer and feeder, although in an indirect way. Their 

 interest lies directly in the improvement of animal form, 

 which in the beef animal involves a long, broad, deep body, 

 and square, full, compact quarters with the minimum of 

 waste products. The more highly developed, therefore, that 

 the breeder can perfect animal form, the nearer will he 

 approach the ultimate demands of the feeder or finisher and 

 the butcher. 



Relation of Structure to High-priced Cuts. — In perfecting 

 animal form the breeder is vitally concerned with the 

 development of certain parts. This development must be 

 made, however, in perfect correlation with those character- 

 istics which give the animal life, vigor, and thriftiness. 

 The parts of a beef animal which are of greatest concern 

 to the packer, the butcher and the meat eater are not 

 directly concerned with the functions of life and vitality 



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