The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1920-02-19
The Farmer Who is Equipped to Do His Own Stock Judging, al These
Farmers Are Doing, Has an Asset Of Special Value.

have the true beef form. In that re-
spect they are intermediate between
feeders and fat cattle so far rs flesh
is concerned. Early maturity IL IA
fattenins qualities should he present
to a marked degree. Good handling
qualities are essential, rs excessive
fat. showing that the animal has been
Mhmpered, is undesirable. Heavy flesh
is necessarily of Importance. but breed
ing cattle should he judged more by
their value as breeding stock than by
the flesh they carry. Superabundance
of flesh may hide defects. Too much
emphasis cannot be given to tho fact
tina, animals being judged should have
ability To transmit their usefulness
and desirable characteristics to their
offspring. In fact. prcpolency should
be so strong and the line of breeding
$" we'll defined for the specific rur-
pose that the animal will have Il ten
dcnry I" produce better individuals
than itself. Prrpotency is obtained
by consistent breeding toward Il def
mite type and therefore is to be ex-
pectc1 most frequently among animals
true to their breed type.
Suggestions About Judging.
In judging n class of cattle or in
speeding a single individual. one should
first make a general survey of the ami
1nals or animal. examining the general
features from Il distance and noting
the general outline and typical beef
form.
When first approaching an animal.
note the front view and 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 lowncsS of the flank. The rear
view will give the width Of the back.
spring of the ribs and thickness and
development of tho hind quarters. par.
1icularly the thighs and twist. After
a survey of the animal from II short
distance, Il close inspection of the va
rious parts Of the body should he
made. beginning at the head.
In the case of beginners. Judging
work usually should commence with
the use of the score card, after The
various parts OF the animal have been
identified and the use of the card has
been explained. One should make :,
complete examination of Tn" iEdivid-
nnl before the various cuts are noted
on the card. The score card is in
tended primarily for beginners. and is
to be used in learning til" details II
comparative Judging. Comparative
Judging is employed exclusively in
plncing the awards ut public beef-cat-
tie shows. Practice test may be con
nned TO selecting the. best individual
in a class of cattle of the same age.
AS one becomes more proficient. an
imals Of different ages may be Judged,
hut the sexes should be kept separate.
, In comparative Judging one must ex-
anime the various parts and make di-
rec, comparison. Keeping in mind The
parts which are relatively llle most
important.
The tuigc-to-br should gradually ac-
quire facility in summarizing the total
Of the qualifications Of each animal.
Use of the score card is, a step toward
efficiency in the difficult task of COM
parative Judging. Only in close com
petition in comparative Judging does
the experienced Judge need to place
side by side the smallest details. How
ever. in many Judging contests, this
becomes necessary. and the judge may
finally be required to make his deci-
sion upon relatively fine points.
Sample score cards for fat and feed
er-beef cattle and for breeding beef
cattle. together with n model card for
comparative Judging by class or team.
constitute part Of the material on-
tanned in Il recent Farmers bulletin
issued by the department Of agricul-
ture, entitled Judging Beef Cattle"
The 81 pages of text discuss in popu-
lar language the various features Of
judging beef cattle. and 1t contains
suggestions regarding their scoring.
The bulletin may be had free upon re-
quest.