cuts than any other markets of the world. By reference to the wholesale method of cutting beef used by Swift & Co., and the actual wholesale selling prices of the several cuts taken from a bunch of cattle sold this firm by the Iowa Experiment Station, it will be seen that the rib and loin cuts command over four times the average price paid for the remainder of the carcass, and it is apparent that the practical beef animal must be good in these parts.

Broad, well-covered backs and ribs are absolutely necessary to a good carcass of beef, and no other excellencies, however great, will compensate for the lack of this essential. It is necessary to both breed and feed for thickness in these parts. And mere thickness and substance here are not all. Animals that are soft and patchy, or hard

and rolled on the back, are sure to give defective and objectionable carcasses, even though they are thick, and they also cut up with correspondingly greater waste.

A marked and important change has taken place in the profitable type of cattle within comparatively recent years. This change is strikingly illustrated in the development of the Shorthorn. By the courtesy of that veteran feeder and most excellent authority on live stock, the late William Watson, it is possible to furnish a good illustration (fig. 8) of the popular type of beef animal about the be

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FIG. 7.-English method of cutting beef.

ginning of the present century. At that time Culley said, in one of his contributions on live stock, that the "unimproved" breeds of Teesdale were a "disagreeable kind of cattle, that, though fed ever so long, never produced any fat, either within or without." Youatt, another celebrated author, described them as "generally of great size, thinskinned, sleek-haired, bad in handling, coarse in offal, and of delicate constitution." With this as a foundation stock, it is not so difficult to understand how an animal of the Newbus ox stamp might be classed

as belonging to the improved order. This ox was sired by a grandson of Charles Colling's celebrated bull "Old Favourite," and the dam was supposed to be a Scotch Highland cow. The early Shorthorns were large and massive. The famous Durham ox weighed nearly 3,800 pounds when 10 years old. The demand for early maturity and plump, sappy carcasses of medium weight and minimum offal and waste had not then set in. It was not until within recent years that the heavy, inordinately fat, or rough and patchy bullock, became unpopular to such an extent as practically to drive this class from the market and to banish the type from the breeding herds. It is well that this was done; for the modern type, represented by the first three illustrations, makes beef at decidedly more profit and economy to both the producer and the butcher and furnishes the consumer a far superior article.

The parts furnishing the high-priced cuts must be thickly and evenly covered with firm yet mellow flesh of uniform good quality and alike free from hard rolls and blubbery patches. Coarse, harsh, and gaudy animals will no longer be tolerated, much less those that are bony and bare of flesh on the back and ribs. The men who buy our cattle and fix their market value are shrewd enough to know almost at a glance how much and just what kind of meat a steer or carload of steers will cut out, and if the producer overlooks any of the essential points he is compelled to bear the loss.

Then, in addition to securing the general beef form and make-up, together with good backs, ribs, and loins, there is a certain quality, character, style, and finish that constitute an important factor in determining the value of beef cattle. One of the first indications of this is to be found in the skin and coat. A good feeding animal should

have a soft, mellow touch and a soft but thick and heavy coat. A harsh, unyielding skin is an indication of a sluggish circulation and low digestive powers. The character and finish exemplified by a clear, prominent yet placid eye, clean-cut features, fine horn, and clean, firm bone, all go to indicate good feeding quality and a capacity to take on a finish of the highest excellence, and consequently to command top prices. Coarse-boned, rough animals are almost invariably slow feeders and hard to finish properly. A certain amount of size is necessary, but it should be obtained without coarseness. The present demand exacts quality and finish rather than size.

Besides these qualities, and above all, it is necessary to have vigor and constitution. We find evidence of these in a wide forehead, a prominent brisket, broad chest, well-sprung ribs, full heart girth, and general robust appearance; and without these other excellence will not have its highest significance.

SELECTION OF STORE, OR STOCK, CATTLE FOR FEEDING. Practical and experienced feeders, who breed and purchase steers for fattening, observe striking differences in the aptitude of animals of varying types and make-up to lay on flesh readily and in such

form and quality as to command the highest price on the market. It requires a well-trained eye to detect in all cases the possible variation of results in the store or stock steer; but there are some distinctions that are easily detected. There are certain types of cattle, for instance, that never feed profitably under any conditions, and it is quite as important to discriminate against these in the feed lot as to be able to recognize the excellence in other types. The accompanying illustration (fig. 9) represents a yearling steer that combines practically all of the qualities that go to make up a good feeding steer, while figs. 11 and 12 represent the opposite type. The latter are illustrations of dairy-bred steers, but there is equally as good reason for discarding any native or unimproved steer that presents a similar angular outline, spare form, and rough exterior. The dairy breeds illustrated here are eminently adapted to the purpose of special dairying, but it is a mistake and positive evil to claim for them any beef excellence whatever, as the

kind of beef they are capable of producing will almost invariably cost the producer more than its value on the market.

The characteristics that make the profitable feeder are naturally more difficult to detect in animals in stock condition than when fattened, but notwithstanding this there are а number of indications that are fairly reliable. Though the young steer may be comparatively thin in flesh. and temporarily lacking the thick, even covering of the back and ribs so -essential in the finished carcass, he must nevertheless present that blocky frame and stoutness of build, accompanied by short, straight legs, wide back and loin, well-sprung ribs, fullness back of shoulders and in flanks, prominent brisket, full neck vein, wide chest, and well-rounded barrel, together with a good, soft, mellow handling skin and fine, silky hair, giving what is termed the thick, mossy coat, without coarseness, and with it all a good, strong, vigorous head, clear, full eye, and quiet temperament. The importance of an even covering of flesh and good handling quality can hardly be overestimated. The bone should be moderately fine and clean. Coarseness either in the bone or about the head and horns is particularly objectionable, as it indicates coarseness of texture throughout and a greater percentage of offal and cheap meat, as well as a tendency to sluggish circulation. The head should present a certain refinement, finish, and vigor that in a measure indicate general quality and superior excellence of finished product, though this refinement

must not be accompanied by delicacy. The illustrations (figs. 10 and 10 a) of a good feeding type in stock condition are taken from photographs of one of a carload of skim-milk calves in a feeding experiment at the Iowa Experiment Station. This calf was about a year old when these photographs were taken. This picture furnishes a good illustration of the type that never fails to make a good record in the feed lot and on the block. While it perhaps represents a higher standard of excellence than can generally be obtained in feeding cattle, the

standard is none too high
for the best results, and it
should be as closely ap-
proximated as practicable.

BREEDING TYPE VERSUS
THE BLOCK.

Notwithstanding the importance of those things which go to make up a finished carcass of beef of the highest value, and while the block is the ultimate end of all beef cattle, it should be kept in mind that undeveloped breeding stock can not at all times be expected to measure up to this standard. Every fair or live-stock exhibition should have its fatstock classes, and these should be taken as the standard of the finished product. They will afford the most practical and useful lessons to be gained by the show, and the stock brought out for them will represent the culmination of the highest excellence that can be attained. The competition will be a measure of everything at its best, and in it every animal will rightly be rated according to what it is capable of producing on the block. The show ring should afford a contest of that kind, and in addition to the practical lessons and its educational value it would at least partially remedy the tendency to rate breeding stock according to the flesh carried. While heavy flesh is necessarily a factor of great importance, yet to go into a breeding herd and absolutely rate every animal as if it were to go at once to the shambles may lead to entirely erroneous results. Fitting should not be undervalued. Other things being equal, the best fitted should always win; but an animal in a breeding herd ought to be rated according to its value as a representative of that herd, and for the purpose of the herd, instead of taking rank simply as a carcass of beef in the form presented. Breeding and feeding quality should not be subordinated to mere wealth of flesh. In a fat-stock ring it is

Bulletin No. 35, Iowa Experiment Station.