MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF LIVESTOCK 19 
GRADES OF CATTLE 
The fifth and last subdividing of market cattle is known as grad- 
ing, and the units resulting from the subdivision, as grades. The 
varying degrees of the char acteristics, confor mation, finish, and qual- 
ity possessed by different animals determine the orades into which 
they shall be placed. 
The number of grades of cattle varies somewhat with the class, 
subclass, age, and weieht of the animals considered, partly because 
certain groups of animals present a wider range of variation in 
conformation, finish, and quality than do other groups. Tor ex- 
ample, slaughter steers are divided into seven grades—prime, choice, 
good, medium, common, cutter, and low cutter—whereas only six 
grades have been provided for "slaughter cows and five grades for 
slaughter bulls. 
The chief reason for this curtailment in the number of grades is 
that the best cows and bulls are too deficient in conformation, finish, 
and quality to be comparable with the best steers or heifers. Hence 
the schedule provides no prime grade for cows or bulls. Another 
reason for reducing the number of grades in certain groups is that 
in such instances animals which meet the requirements of the pre- 
ceding segregations, particularly the age and weight specifications, 
could not “ordinarily possess the degrees. of confor mation, finish, and 
quality necessary for inclusion in the omitted grades. 
Two other variations occur in the grade schedule which, without 
some explanation, might prove puzzling. In the case of stockers 
and feeders, the first “erade is called fancy instead of prime, and 
inferior grade is substituted for cutter gr ade. The term fancy is sub- 
stituted for prime largely because, in the popular mind, the term 
prime is associated with a high degree of fat or finish which stockers 
and feeders do not possess. Best stockers and feeders possess a com- 
paratively high degree of quality, a somewhat lower degree of con- 
formation, and are decidedly lacking in finish. To provide a name 
for this combination of the three fundamental characteristics which 
would not be confusing, fancy has been used. 
Similar considerations account for the absence of cutter erade 
from the stocker and feeder schedules. The term “cutter” conveys a 
picture of a method of handling and disposing of a carcass after 
slaughter. As in the case of stockers and feeders immediate 
slaughter is not involved, “ cutter ” is inappropriate as a grade name. 
Roughly, inferior grade in stockers and feeders corresponds with 
cutter grade in slaughter cattle, but the two terms, do not neces- 
sarily imply the same degrees of confor mation, finish, and quality. 
In most schedules or classifications of bulls in ‘use heretofore, ma- 
ture slaughter bulls have been divided into two general groups 
known as bee f or butcher bulls and bologna bulls. In some instances 
these groups have been dignified by being called classes. Such pro- 
cedure does not seem to be warranted, Careful investigation shows 
that the real difference between so-called beef or butcher bulls and 
bologna bulls is merely a difference in the degrees of conformation, 
finish, and quality possessed by the animals. “This being true, there 
would seem to be no reason why such bulls can not be sorted, bought, 
and sold on the basis of grade. 
