In the washing of beef the work should start at the hind legs, the step-ladder men being the first to use water on the beef after it is split. Next, the back washers and wipers; after these, the neck and rib washers, the policy being to start at the top and clean the beef as they go along. The washers should be kept close up, handling the beef promptly, running it into the cooler as fast as it is dressed. =Fountain Brushes.=--A convenient apparatus for washing carcasses is the fountain brush. It consists of an ordinary brush with a spray attachment on the front of it, as shown in Fig. 43. To this is attached a hose which supplies hot water from the vat above. When the men are ready to scrub the beef a valve is turned on, the water gravitating through the hose to the meat. In wetting it continuously the blood or discoloration which may be gathered on the meat is rapidly taken off, leaving it in a bright, clean condition. The beef is then wiped with a cloth made of ten or twelve thicknesses of very coarse cheese cloth which rapidly absorbs the moisture. [Illustration: FIG. 43.--THE FOUNTAIN BRUSH.] =Dressing Cattle.=--The mechanical labor of dressing cattle is about the same whether slaughtering ten or ten hundred, except in the former case the work would be performed by one man and in the latter by probably one hundred and thirty. The facilities for doing the work vary with the quantity and style of beds. Some beds are burdened with mechanical appliances where the apparatus more than counteracts any possible labor saving that can be effected. Common sense in this instance would indicate simplicity, as conveyors and mechanical appliances are costly for installation and for upkeep. =Dressing Conveyors.=--Dressing conveyors to take the animal after siding would, however, appear advantageous, since it permits of the concentration of the viscera for inspection and manipulation, and makes for facilities where the same can be handled to meet the regulations and avoid the troubles of food products touching the floor on being trucked. These conveyor systems can be simple or complicated and each house requires treatment comparable with the quantity of business performed. The type of killing beds, where the pens range across the building with one pen for each two beds, and a waiting pen where the drive can be moved forward for knocking, is, in the writer’s opinion, the least costly for standard operation, particularly if an automatic hanging-off arrangement is provided. CHAPTER X DRESSING YIELDS AND CATTLE CUTTINGS. YIELDS OF CATTLE -- YIELD FROM TWENTY-TWO NATIVE CATTLE -- YIELD FROM FIFTY-NINE TEXAS CATTLE -- YIELD FROM TWENTY HEAVY CATTLE -- YIELD FROM THIRTY-FOUR CATTLE -- PERCENTAGE OF VARIOUS CUTS -- BEEF CUTS -- DIAGRAM OF CUTTING -- GRADING -- LOINS -- RIBS -- ROUNDS -- CHUCKS -- PLATES, SHANKS AND FLANKS -- BARRELED BEEF.