§ 7. Condition
First class meat cannot be obtained from animals in poor flesh. The proper amount of fat must be present to give juiciness and flavor to the meat. It is more important, however, that the animal should be in good physical condition than that it should be very fat. “Never kill an animal when it is losing flesh” is a maxim followed by butchers. There is a good deal of truth in the saying. When the animal is losing in flesh, the muscle fibers are shrinking in volume and contain correspondingly less water. As a result, the meat is tougher and drier. When an animal is gaining in flesh, the opposite condition prevails, and a better quality of meat results. Also, a better quality of meat will be obtained from an animal in medium flesh, but gaining in weight, than from a very fat animal that is neither gaining nor losing in flesh.