10 



Farmers' Bulletin 1068. 



indicates a steer of quick-fattening qualities. The body of the 

 animal should be essentially of the same general conformation as that 

 of the finished animal. The body should be short, wide, of good 

 depth, and generahy smooth throughout. There should be no undue 

 prominence in the shoulders and the hind quarters should be wide 

 and "let down" without too much prominence in the hips. (See 

 figs. 5 and 6.) 



The handling qualities of a feeder are not so pronounced as in 

 a finished animal but are good indications of thrift and feeding quali- 

 ties. The hide should be pliable and thin, because a coarse hide indi- 



Fig. 7.— In the bull, masculinity, sexual characters, and a vigorous constitution are essential to the desired 



beef conformation. 



cates coarse meat of inferior quality. The hair should be soft, silky, 

 and mossy, and not present a rough, harsh appearance. 



A separate score card for feeder cattle may be desirable, but the 

 same qualifications apply to both feeders and fat cattle. The main 

 difference is in the degree of perfection of the various parts. Pro- 

 portionately the conformation and the external parts of the feeder 

 bear the same relation to each other as they do in the fat animal. 

 For that reason it is suggested that the same score card be used for 

 the two classes of animals, because the feeder has to be judged in 

 terms of the fat animal. 



JUDGING BREEDING CATTLE. 



Breeding cattle first of all must have the true beef form. In that 

 respect they are intermediate between feeders and fat cattle so far as 

 flesh is concerned. Early maturity and easy-fattening qualities 



