2 BULLETIN 1246, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
PURPOSE OF CLASSIFYING AND GRADING. 
The main purpose of classifying and grading beef, as is true of any 
other commodity, is to make possible a determination of values. 
When a large quantity, made up of many units varying widely in 
several important respects is considered, it is impossible to measure 
accurately the excellence or deficiency of the lot as a whole: conse- 
quently it is impossible to determine its true value. 
For example, beef carcasses vary so much in quality, weight, and 
many other respects that one carcass may be worth $100 and another 
$20. A certain portion of beef may be worth 40 cents a pound and 
another 15 cents a pound. It is apparent, therefore, that to deter- 
mine the value of a lot of beef it is necessary to group the units 
making up the lot in such a way that in a given group the variations 
between the units are so slight that they are negligible. That clone, 
the degree of excellence or deficiency can readily be determined, and 
it is on this that market values depend. 
Having determined the market value, it still remains to provide 
machinery for conveying the idea or concept of values to another : in 
other words, for quoting prices. To accomplish this, certain labels 
or names must be formulated with which to designate degrees of 
excellence or deficiency, and a standard of values agreed upon. 
It is impossible, for example, to quote a price on " beef " because 
such a quotation would convey practically no information. A price 
quoted on "good grade steer beef," however, is intelligible and in- 
formative, provided both parties understand what is meant by 
" good grade " and "steer." When such a condition exists, classifying 
and grading have been accomplished. 
PURPOSE OF STANDARD CLASSES AND GRADES. 
There are times during the progress of almost any commodity 
from producer to consumer when it is either inconvenient or impos- 
sible for the buyer to inspect either personally or through an agent, 
the commodities he wishes to buy. Therefore, in order that persons 
may trade with one another in a given commodity, it is necessary 
first to draw up a code of rules for classifying and grading the 
commodity according to a certain standard and second to formulate 
a set of terms the meaning of which is definitely fixed and generally 
understood. It is essential that both the buyer and seller use the 
same terms to describe a given article and that both attach the same 
meaning to the terms used. When this usage becomes widespread 
and permanent we have a standard classification or system of grad- 
ing which facilitates purchasing, lessens the volume of waste prod- 
ucts to be handled by the middleman, and therefore improves the 
market for the producer. 
If, for example, a retailer in New York City could buy beef in 
Chicago by merely specifying the class and grade desired, and could 
have reasonable assurance that he would obtain precisely what he 
wauls, tliis would go a long way toward simplifying the present 
lather elaborate scheme of distribution. Economies would be ef- 
fected, and the cost of distribution could be materially reduced. 
So far as is known, no serious attempt to collect, organize, define, 
interpret and harmonize the various trade names and terms used in 
