MARKET CLASSES AND GRADES OF DRESSED BEEF. 29 
GRADES OF STAG BEEF. 
There are six grades of stag beef : No. 1 or Choice, No. 2 or Good, 
No. 3 or Medium, No. 4 or Common, No. 5 or Cutter, and No. 6 or 
Canner. 
There are fewer stags than bulls, and they are graded by virtually 
the same standard. Young stags are more desirable than older 
ones, and their carcasses often can not readily be distinguished from 
those of steers. Much depends on the age at which the animal was 
castrated. If that occurred shortly after the animal reached sexual 
maturity, the beef may make a very close approach, in most respects, 
to steer beef. If, however, castration was delayed until the animal 
had attained full maturity, and, possibly, had been used for breed- 
ing purposes, the beef will have virtually all of the important and 
outstanding characteristics of bull beef. 
No. 1, or Choice, stag beef. — No. 1, or Choice, stag beef usually 
has brighter and more tender flesh than bull beef, with an apprecia- 
ble infilling of fat along the muscle fibers not noticeable in bull beef, 
but it has very little, if any, marbling. In quality and finish Choice 
stag beef surpasses Choice bull beef. The fat covering, while some- 
what rough, is well distributed over the exterior surfaces. The inte- 
rior fats, while not excessive, are abundant and well-distributed and 
of slightly better quality than in Choice bull beef. They are, how- 
ever, inferior in quality to that of a steer, heifer, or cow carcass of 
the same grade. 
No. 2, or Good, stag beef. — No. 2, or Good, stag beef resembles No. 
2, or Good, bull beef in nearly every respect, except that it has 
slightly better finish and quality and the flesh is brighter and more 
tender. Otherwise there is not enough difference to warrant de- 
scribing the grade in detail. 
No. 3, or Medium, stag beef. — No. 3, or Medium, stag beef also 
resembles bull beef of the same grade in nearly every respect. The 
flesh, though dark and tough, is brighter and slightly more tender 
and for that reason is superior to that of Medium bull beef. This 
grade is used freely by retail meat dealers catering to a trade re- 
quiring a cheap grade of beef. Such carcasses also are used in 
sausage. 
No. Jf, or Common, stag beef. — No. 4, or Common, stag beef resem- 
bles Common bull beef in conformation and depth of flesh. Like 
Common bull beef, it rarely shows much finish or quality. The flesh 
is dark and inclined to be more watery than that of bull beef of the 
same grade. Otherwise, there is no appreciable difference between 
the two classes with reference to this grade. 
No. 5, or Cutter, and No. 6, or CaMner, stag beef.— Theoretically, 
there is nothing to prevent the existence of Cutter and Canner stag 
beef, but such an article is practically unknown to the market. 
The reason for this is that in order to produce stag beef, castration 
must be performed after maturity. When this is done, it is with a 
view to putting the animal in market condition. Whenever a real 
effort to do this is made, the resulting carcass rarely grades lower 
than Common. In the rare instances where stag beef grading lower 
than Common is offered, it possesses virtually the same characteris- 
tics and deficiencies as Cutter or Canner bull beef and is graded 
accordingly. 
§3928°— 24 i 
