GHAPTEE XVIII. 



The Saving of Muscle in Fattening Cattle. 



Exercise and Juicy Meat versus Waste and Degeneration 

 of the Muscles. 



The practice of Mr. John D. Gillette, of Logan Co., 

 111., and others, in exercising their cattle, including the fa- 

 mous prize steers of 1877, led to much more discussion 

 than would have taken place if he had failed to carry off 

 the prizes at Chicago. But the superior quality of the 

 beef produced by his out-door feeding, under the exercise 

 incident to it, suggests a little further inquiry as to the 

 causes of such a juicy and superior quality in his grade 

 Short-horns, or any other cattle, there having been many 

 other successes in feeding under such or similar manage- 

 ment. 



In many instances, prize cattle in the London market 

 and elsewhere, have been affected with " fatty degenera- 

 tion," or degeneration of the muscles; and, as this con- 

 dition is met with in stall-fed cattle, while cattle having 

 moderate exercise are not so affected, the origin of fatty 

 degeneration requires some thought. It appears most con- 

 spicuously in a degenerated condition of the muscles that 

 are necessarily used during exercise, suggesting the idea 

 that inactivity gives rise to it, as this disorder is known to 

 result from disuse, or inaction, in other parts of the sys- 

 tem. It is necessary, first, to see how the size of the 

 muscles is maintained, so that causes and consequences 

 may be compared in ascertaining why the size and sub- 

 Stance are reduced, or changed, under certain artificial 



