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Show HOW 10 JUDGE YOURJJVESTOCK Necessary for Breeders as Well as for Exhibitors to Understand the Important Points. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GIVES ADVICE Knowledge Serves as Basis for Seeking Improvement Along Well-Defined Lines Art Explained Ex-plained in Free Gov't Bulletin. A real need in agricultural regions today is more widespread knowledge of how to judge livestock properly. While the judging of the finest animals anim-als is likely to remain an art in which relatively few persons can attain at-tain the highest standards, nevertheless neverthe-less farmers as a whole should be thoroughly familiar with the general principles of judging stolk. Knowledge Know-ledge of this sort is a real asset. The art of judging beef cattle is the foundation of all beef-cnttle shows, and also is largely the means of determining deter-mining the value of cattle offered in public sales. It serves as a basis for, every man who buys and raises cattle to seek improvement along well recognized rec-ognized lines. If a breeder is not a good judge he, can not mate individuals so as to get the best possible offspring. Knowledge Know-ledge may be obtained through long experience, but a systematic course in judging may accomplish the same end at a cost of fewer mistakes and a much shorter time. If a farmer is a competent judge of feeders, for ex-! ample, he can go to the market and! aave the buying dhargea or commissions commis-sions on a deal which otherwise would' have to be handled through commission commis-sion men. Judging Feeders Less Difficult. For the man who feeds cattle for commercial purposes, it is more important im-portant to study how to judge feeders than for cattle. Judging the former requires more skill than judging the latter. Without standards, stock judging cun not be made a success. The smallest smal-lest cattle owner as well aa the man who ouns large herds needs of be familiar fam-iliar with the ideal beef tyne. This animal, when fat, must have a low-set body which is broad, deep and smooth, with level lines, having a thick, even covering of firm flesh. Hair, hide and bone of good quality, together with general character and style, also serve as an indication if the inner parts, which cannot be seen. In learning to judge beef cattle, it is necessary to become familiar with the location and names of the different differ-ent parts of the animal. The names are similar in all classes of livestock and can be learned easily by referring to annotated illustrations or diagrams. The names of wholesale cuts of the beef carcass correspond quite closely to those of the live animal, the only difference being that the wholesale carcass contains fewer parts. Three Classes of Cattle. From the butcher's standpoint, cattle cat-tle may be divided into three classes J fat cattle, feeders, and breeding cattle. cat-tle. The first comprises animals' ready for the butcher's block, the second is the "unfinished product," and the third constitutes the clussi from which the others are produced. In fat cattle one must Judge according accord-ing to what the cattle are at the time. In feeders, the animals which give promise of putting on the biggest big-gest and cheapest gains, and developing develop-ing into the best beef form when fat tened, are the ones desired. In the breeding type, the true beef form is of prime importance, but there must also be assurance that the beef characteristics will be transmitted to the offspring. .IihI mm; Fat ( 'at tie and Feeders. Fat cattle, so called, include steers, heifers, calves, cows and bulls. Fat steers and hi ift-rs const iiute by fai the largest percentage. Kach must lie considered from the butcher's standpoint, the finish and quality of flesh being of prime importance. Cattle Cat-tle bred especially for beef purposes have tendency to produce marbled i meat, or to deposit layers of fat throughout the lean meat, while in cattle bred exclusively for dairy pur-poses, pur-poses, the tendency is to deposit a surplus fat, principally around the internal in-ternal organs, where It becomes .i relatively re-latively cheap suet anl does not tend i to improve the quality of the lean meat. In judging feeders, it must be borne in mind thot they are "unfin ished 'cattle, and therefore do not have the width and flesh covering of fat cattle. In general, the same qualifications qual-ifications upply to feeders as to fat cattle, except that certain points of I the score card must be emphasized ! and others minimized. The desirable i feeder is one that will dress out a high percentage of high-priced meats ! when finished and slaughtered. ' Judging Breeding Cattle Breeding cattle, first of all, must have the true beef form. In that respect re-spect they are intermediate hetween feeders ond fat cattle so far as flesh , is concemed. Karly maturing and easy fattening qualities should be present I to a marked degree. Good handling qualities are essential, as excessive ! fat, showing that the animal has been 1 pampered, is undesirable. Heavy-flesh Heavy-flesh is necessarily of importance, but breeding cattle should be judged more by their value as breeding stock that by the flesh they carry. Superabundance Superabun-dance of uesh may hide defects. Too much emphasis can not be given to the fact that animals being judged should haye ability to transmit their usefulness and desirable character' istics to their offspring. In fuct prepotency pre-potency should be so strong and the line of breeding so well defined for tin- specific purpose, that the animal will have a tendency to produ better individuals than itself". Prepotency ll obtained by consistent breeding toward to-ward a definite type and tl,.-i. toti I to be expectel moat frequently among animals true to their breed type. BufffMtioni About Judging. In judging a class of cattle or in-pocting in-pocting a single individual, one should first make a general survey of the animals or animal, examining the i Continued on page five) HOW TO JUDGE , YOUR LIVE STOCK ' (Continued from previous page i 1 general features from a distance nnd i noting the general outline and typical beef form. When first approaching an animal, note the front view ancr the features of the head and the width and depth of the chest. On moving toward the side note the depth of the body and ! the lowness of the flank. The rear View will give the width of 'he back, spring of the ribs, and thickness and development of the hind quarters, particularly par-ticularly the thighs and twist. After a survey of the animal from a short distance a close inspection of the various var-ious parts of the body should be made, beginning at the head. In the case of beginners, junging i stock should usially rommence with i the use of the score card, after the : various parts of the animal have been j identified and the use of the card has been explained. One should make a complete examination of the j individual before the various cuts are I noted in the card. The score can! is intended primarily for beginners, and is to be used in learning the details of comparative Judging. Coni- parative judging is employed exclusively exclus-ively in placing the awards at public beef cattle shows. Practice tests may ' be confined to selecting the best in-I in-I dividual in a class of cattle of the same age. As one becomes more proficient, an-1 an-1 imals of different ages may be judged, but the sexes should be kept separate. separ-ate. In comparative judging one must examine the various parts and make direct comparison, keeping in mind the parts which are relatively the most important. The judge-to-be should gradually acquire facility in summarizing the i total of the qualifications of ca h individual. in-dividual. Use of the score card is a step toward efficiency In the difficult task of comparative judging. Only in close competition in comparative I judging does the experienced judge need to place side by side the smallest detail: However, in many judging i contests, this become:- necessary and the judge may finally be required to make his decision upon relatively fine points. Sample score cards for fat and feeder feed-er beef cattle and for breeding beef cattle, together with a model card for comparative judging by class or team, constitute part of the material contained in a recent farmer's bulletin i tied by ti"' Department of Agriculture, Agricul-ture, entitled "Judging Beef Cattle." I in- 2 pages of text discuss in pop ular language the various features of judging beef cattle, and it contains suggestions regarding their scoring. I be bulletin may be had free upon ; request. |