GRADES OF DRESSED LAMB AXD MUTTON 15 
quently noticeable in rolls or bunches or in excessive quantities of 
interior fats. Because an excess of fat in lamb or mutton is unpalat- 
able and wasteful and shows an overfinished condition, such car- 
casses grade lower than those having a smooth, even finish, and hence 
usually sell at a lower price. A low percentage of kidney fats indi- 
cates a low-grade carcass, whereas excessive quantities of interior 
fats are the result of an overfinished condition. This then is an 
economic factor which affects production and is reflected in the price 
received for the live animal. 
QUALITY 
Quality is a characteristic of the flesh and the fat included therein. 
It pertains primarily to the thickness, firmness, and strength of both 
the muscle fiber and the connective tissue. It also involves the 
quantity, consistency, and character of juices and extractives which 
are contained in the muscle fiber and the fat surrounding the connec- 
tive tissue. Although color does not actually determine quality it 
serves as an excellent index to what the quality of a given piece of 
meat is, and possesses commercial importance. 
Best quality in lamb and mutton implies full, well-developed, firm 
muscular tissue or flesh with a minimum of strength in fiber and 
connective tissue. This is necessary to insure tenderness. Allow- 
ing for variations between the three groups, the flesh is fine-grained 
and smooth. Its color is light pink in lamb, dark pink to light red 
in yearling mutton, and somewhat darker in mature mutton. 
Poor quality involves the opposite of most of the foregoing charac- 
teristics. Although the differences in the color of the flesh are not 
so outstanding as between good and poor quality beef, yet the differ- 
ences between lamb and mutton of good quality and poor quality 
are always sufficiently great to be clearly recognized. Low-quality 
meats from all ovine animals have darker flesh than meat from high- 
quality animals of the same group. The ratio between muscle and 
connective tissue is relatively low as is also the ratio between flesh 
and bone. The grain is coarse and the general appearance is soft 
or watery and fibrous. 
The significance of quality is great. It determines the palatability 
of the meat and the ease with which it can be prepared for human 
consumption. Quality is, therefore, by all means the most important 
factor in determining grade. The determination of quality presents 
a rather difficult problem, for it is a characteristic which pertains 
chiefly to the inner or concealed portions of the carcass and is not 
apparent to the superficial view in the same degree as conformation 
and finish. To determine quality exactly it is essential to have a 
cut surface or cross section exposed to view. Fortunately, there is 
such a close relationship between conformation, finish, and quality 
that the existence in a high degree of the first two virtually insures a 
high degree of quality. 
GRADES OF LAMB CARCASSES 
Lamb carcasses are graded as Prime, Choice, Good, Commercial, 
Utility, and Cull. 
