142  The  Meat  Industry  in  its  Relation  to  Agriculture. 
are  to  the  man  who  deals  in  meat  has  been  demonstrated  year 
by  year  since  the  carcass  class  was  instituted.  Briefly  stated, 
this  class  is  composed  of  bullocks,  sheep,  and  swine,  which  are 
judged  on  the  hoof,  and  then  slaughtered  and  judged  as  meat 
during  the  course  of  the  Show. 
At  every  one  of  the  Smithfield  Shows  the  awards  given  by 
the  Judges  to  the  live  animals  have  not  been  sustained  by  the 
Judges  of  the  carcasses,  showing  that  the  agriculturist  has  still 
but  a limited  knowledge  of  what  the  meat  purveyor  actually 
wants,  and  which  may  to  a large  extent  be  rectified  by  placing 
a meat  purveyor  on  the  judging  committee  of  the  live  stock. 
It  is  quite  safe  to  say  that  a competent  meat  purveyor  would 
be  a better  judge  of  a live  carcass  than  an  agriculturist,  and  in 
this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  judging  of  all 
animals  should  be  reduced  to  standards  of  excellence  which 
can  be  translated  into  figures.  This  has  already  been  done  in 
connection  with  the  carcasses,  and  an  example  of  the  type  of 
the  standards  wanted,  and  such  as  have  been  arrived  at,  may  be 
given  here  : — 1 
Standard  of  Excellence  for  Judging  the  ('area.™  of  a.  Bullock. 
1.  Workmanship  and  handling  of  carcass 5 
2.  Colour  and  general  appearance  of  carcass  . . . . .10 
3.  Conformation  of  carcass  and  proportion  of  meat  to  bone  . .10 
4.  Proportion  of  meat  on  hind-quarter  and  roasting  parts  . . 15 
5.  Thickness  of  sirloin  .........  20 
6.  Conformation  of  fore-quarter,  embracing  fleshy  spare-rib  and 
shoulder,  proportion  of  meat  to  bone  . . . . .10 
7.  Thickness  and  fleshiness  of  brisket  or  breast  ....  5 
8.  Smallness  of  neck 5 
On  quartering  the  carcass,  the  following  points  to  be  noted  : — 
9.  Colour  and  texture  of  flesh 10 
10.  Marbling  of  flesh  .........  10 
Total 100 
Standard  of  Excellence  for  Judging  a Carcass  of  Pork. 
1.  Dressing  of  carcass  ........  .5 
2.  General  appearance  and  firmness  of  flesh  and  fat  . . .10 
3.  Proportion  of  meat  to  bone  .......  15 
On  splitting  the  carcass  into  halves,  the  following  points  are  to  be 
noted  : — 
4.  Plumpness  of  legs  .........  20 
5.  Thickness  of  loin  and  smallness  of  proportion  of  fat  to  lean  . 20 
(5.  Streakiness  of  belly  part 10 
7.  Fleshiness  of  fore-quarter  ........  15 
8.  Smallness  of  head  .........  5 
Total  .......  100 
1 The  Meat  Industry  and  Meat  Inspection,  by  Leighton  & Douglas,  Vol.  II. 
