MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF CATTLE 23 
The grade of an animal is arrived at by judging its degree of 
merit for the market use of slaughter (1) from the standpoint of 
general appearance, and (2) from the degree of perfection of each 
of the various parts of the animal. Accordingly on the chart a value 
of 30 per cent has been given to the general description and a value 
of 70 has been assigned to the detail description, making the total of 
100 per cent, which represents the animal which is considered as ideal 
for the market use of slaughter. 
The total of 30 per cent assigned to the general description of the 
animal has been divided in several major parts and a value assigned 
to each. Of these, conformation has a value of 8 per cent, finish 9 per 
cent, and quality 13 per cent. 
An animal's conformation is judged from its degree of perfection 
as regards compactness, width, depth, top line, under line, and side 
lines. Consequently in the order given these factors have been 
assigned values of 2, 1.50, 1.50, 1, 1, and 1 per cent, making the total 
value of 8 per cent, which is assigned to conformation. 
In like manner values, more or less arbitrarily arrived at, have 
been assigned to different factors considered when judging the ani- 
mal's finish and quality. 
The total value of 70 per cent assigned to the detail description of 
the animal has been divided into 18 parts, or the number of the parts 
of the animal, which are each judged separately and values assigned 
to each part. In arriving at the value to be assigned to each of the 
parts the importance of the part was carefully considered (1) from 
the standpoint of the quantity, and (2) from the standpoint of the 
quality of the product obtained from the part. 
In other words, the relative quantity and comparative value per 
hundredweight of the product from each of the parts were taken into 
account. This was arrived at by correlating the different parts of the 
live animal with the wholesale cuts of beef derived from its carcass. 
A detailed explanation of how the values assigned to the parts of 
live animals known as the crops and back will serve as an illustration 
of the method of arriving at the values of the various parts as shown 
on the chart. The crops and back of the live animal are approxi- 
mately the parts that go to make up the wholesale cut of rib obtained 
from the carcass. According to the " Chicago method " of cutting a 
carcass into wholesale cuts of beef, the rib is, on the average, 9.5 per 
cent of the whole carcass. Thus, on a purely quantitative basis the 
rib would have a value of 9.5 per cent if the total of all parts had a 
value of 100 per cent. On the grading chart, however, only 70 per 
cent out of the total of 100 per cent has been credited to all the parts 
of the live animal considered under the heading of detail description. 
Therefore 70 per cent of 9.5 per cent, or 6.65 per cent, is the value 
that should be assigned to the crops and back (or rib) on a straight 
quantitative basis. But the rib is one of the most valuable or highest- 
priced wholesale cuts of beef ; hence the crops and back, which go to 
make up the rib cut, have been assigned values which also represent 
the quality of beef obtained from these parts. 
To work out the value which should be assigned because of quality, 
the average of the monthly average prices of good grade steer car- 
casses and of No. 2 wholesale cuts of steer beef, on the wholesale beef 
market at Chicago, for a period of four years extending from 1921 
