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AGRICULTURE

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same occasion, the three highest daily average gains m Smithfield stone (8 H>) of carcase for each imperial stone live weight were 2'07 lb for an Aberdeen-Angus, 199 S) (14 lb) of live weight. This gives carcase weight as equal for a Shorthorn-Aberdeen cross-bred, and 1'97 for a Sussex. to 57 per cent, of live weight, a ratio much inferior to the In the sheep section of the Smithfield show the classes for best results obtained at the carcase competition promoted ewes were finally abolished in 1898, and the classes by the Smithfield Club. Table XXI., given as an example, restricted to wethers and wether lambs, whose function is Table XXI.—Block Test, Sviithfield Club Show, 1900. exclusively the production of meat. At the 1900 show Katio of Fasted Carcase Carcase sheep of each breed, and also cross-breds, competed as (1) Live Description and Breed. Prize. to Live W eight. Weight. Weight. wether lambs under twelve months old, and (2) wether sheep above twelve and under 24 months old. The only Per cent. lb exception was in the case of the slowly-maturing Cheviot Cattle. and mountain breeds, for which the second class was for Steers, not over two years wether sheep of any age above twelve months. Of prize old:— 66 787 1192 Aberdeen-Hereford sheep at the centenary show the largest average daily gain 65 843 1297 Shorthorn-Galloway was 0-77 lb per head given by Oxford-Hampshire cross64 847 1315 Aberdeen -Shorthorn bred wether lambs, aged nine months two weeks. In the Steers, two to three years case of wether sheep, twelve to twenty-four months old, old:— the highest daily increase was 0-56 lb per head as yielded 66 878 1332 Aberdeen-Angns 67 927 by Lincolns, aged twenty-one months. Within the last 1381 Aberdeen-Shorthorn 63 897 1418 Shorthorn-Galloway quarter of the 19th century the stock-feeding practices of the country were much modified in accordance with these Heifers, not over three years old:— ideas of early maturity. The three-year old wethers and 63 817 1304 Aberdeen-Angns older oxen that used to be common in the fat stock mar62 801 1290 Aberdeen-Sussex kets are now rarely seen, excepting perhaps in the case of Sheep. mountain breeds of sheep and Highland cattle. It was in 1875 that the Smithfield Club first provided competitive Longwool Lambs, not over 12 months old :— classes for lambs, and in 1883 the champion plate offered 60 85 141 Devon cross for the best pen of sheep of any age in the show was for 60 71 118 Suffolk cross the first time won by lambs, a pen of Hampshire Downs. 63 77 123 Cheviot The young classes for bullocks were established in 1880. Longwool Wethers, 12 to The time-honoured notion that an animal must have com24 months old :— 64 105 1G5 pleted its growth before it could be profitably fattened. is Mountain 63 99 158 Suffolk-Cheviot no longer held, and the improved breeds which now exist 62 91 147 Cheviot rival one another as regards the early period at which they Shortwool Lambs, not over may be made ready for the butcher, by appropriate feed12 months old :— ing and management. 671 81 120 Southdown-Suffolk 63 In 1895 the Smithfield Club instituted a caicase com87 138 Hampshire Down 63 95 150 Hampshire Down petition in association with its annual show of fat stock, and it has been continued each year since. The cattle Shortwool Wethers, 12 to 24 months old :— and sheep entered for this competition are shown alive on 66 106 160 Norfolk-Horned the first day, at the close of which they are slaughtered 60 103 172 Hampshire Down and the carcases hung up for exhibition, with details of 62 68 109 Southdown live and dead weights. The competition^ thus constitutes what is termed a “ block test,” and it is instructive in affording the opportunity of seeing the quality of the relates to prize carcases in the competition at the 1900 carcases furnished by the several animals, and in particular show. the relative proportion and distribution of fat and lean The Breeds of Live Stock. meat. The live animals are judged and subsequently the In the last quarter of the 19th century the many native carcases, and, though the results sometimes agree, more breeds of farm live stock became more clearly defined than often they do not. Tables are constructed showing the fasted live weight, the carcase weight, and the weight of ever before, and various breeds which at the beginning of the various parts that are separated from and not in- that period had received no separate classification in showcluded with the carcase. An abundance of lean meat yard schedules were fully recognised before its close. As and a moderate amount of fat well distributed constitutes a matter of record, it is deemed desirable to notice the a better carcase, and a more economical one for the con- breeds as they stand at the beginning of the 20th century. sumer, than a carcase in which gross accumulations of For fuller details than it is here possible to give, the fat are prominent. To add to the educational value of reader should consult the respective stud books, herd books, the display, information as to the methods of feeding and flock books pertaining to the several breeds. would be desirable, as it would then be possible to Horses. correlate the quality of the meat with the mode of its The breeds of light horses include the Thoroughbred, manufacture. A point of high practical interest is the ratio of carcase weight to fasted live weight, and in the case of the Yorkshire Coach-horse, the Cleveland Bay, the prize-winning carcases these ratios usually fluctuate within Hackney, and the pony; of heavy horses, the Shire, the very narrow limits. At the 1899 show, for example, the Clydesdale, and the Suffolk. The Thoroughbred is the highest proportion of carcase weight to live weight was oldest of the breeds, and it is known as the “blood-horse ” 68 per cent, in the case of an Aberdeen-Angus steer and on account of the length of time through which its purity of a Cheviot wether, whilst the lowest was 61 per cent., of descent can be traced. It has sprung from the old In past times Arab and afforded alike by a Shorthorn - Sussex cross-bred heifer native horses of England. and a Mountain lamb. A familiar practical method of Turkish sires were imported for the improvement of the estimating carcase weight from live weight is to reckon one breed, though the use of Eastern blood has, with a few