ECONOMICAL POINTS. 43 



of less value than flesh, an undue weight of hide is unprofitable. 

 Coarse bone gives less tallow, too, a larger belly, more paunch, 

 and less lungs, besides more "dayhght" under the carcass — all 

 bad points. In short, a coarse, rough boned beast is bad, all 

 round, while a smooth, fine bone, properly placed, is a great 

 excellence, either in a bullock for slaughter, a working ox, or a 

 milking cow ; and this fineness should prevail throughout, from 

 the muzzle to the tail, and the hoofs. As a rule, strength, 

 activity, and good constitution accompany fine boned animals, 

 while comparative weakness, sluggishness, and tendency to 

 disease accompany large boned ones. Horn is ofial; therefore 

 an undue development of it is worthless — not only worthless, 

 but a damage, and like bone, an utter loss in the weight of car- 

 cass. Hide being of less value, no greater development of that 

 material is needed than to answer its purpose of protection to 

 the flesh and muscle beneath it; therefore a rough, thick, and 

 heavy hide is a bad point; yet whatever the hide may be, it 

 should be suiSciently loose and flexible to the touch to indicate 

 an elastic flesh within it. The head — usually all offal — is in 

 most instances a fair indication of the character of a beast. 

 A coarse, bony head almost always accompanies a coarse boned 

 body, and a comely, handsome head a fine boned one. So with 

 the taO, coarse or fine, as the creature itself may be. 



Having given a diagram of a comely, well bred beast, wc 

 now refer to some decidedly bad ones. It might be considered 

 hardly worth while to do so, when one can so readily find them 

 out of doors, but for ready comparison we refer to the cut of 

 Texan cattle in another place, and the analysis of points just 

 given in the good beast, may be applied to them to mark the 

 difference. 



In the Texan cattle, their deficiencies throughout are seen 

 in striking contrast to the firm, even fleshed carcass of the other. 

 The flat rib, narrow chest, ragged dewlap, thin flank, long leg. 



