

PRODUCTION OF MILK. 



139 



Mit. Gould. There are one or two points connected with this 

 discussion to which I should like to call the attention of farmers 

 present. Mr. Gold has stated a fact which I never heard before, 

 and 1 am unable to bring forward any facts either to controvert or 

 support it. It is a new proposition to me, that it is an advantage 

 to have milk the cream of which is a long time in rising. If any 

 person had asked my opinion in regard to it, 1 should have told 

 him 1 was not bound to give my opinion. If he still pressed me 

 I should have said that Mr Gold's statement was the reverse of 

 what I should guess. It is certainly a very important question 

 in connection with the dairy husbandry of the country. 



Now in regard to one or two points which have not been sug- 

 gested here. My own experience with regard to cows is, that the 

 soundest mode of judging is by the form of the cow. The form of 

 the animal which is best adapted for the rapid production of beef 

 is not the one best adapted for the most rapid production of milk. 

 So far as my experience has gone, the cow that is best adapted to 

 .the production of milk is the largest behind. The normal form of 

 the Ayrshire cow is near that of a carpenter's hand-saw ; small in 

 front, growing broader behind. That seems to be the law. In 

 judging of the capacity for milk production, one of the most im- 

 portant signs is the development of the vascular system. I look 

 to that more than to anything else. If I can see the veins stick- 

 ing out superflcially, and especially if I can see huge milk veins 

 below, I think it is the best sign that can be had. For an animal 

 to produce beef, I should not look for such a development of the 

 vascular system. The first point I should look at would be, to 

 find that animal which attains the greatest weight in the smallest 

 relative compass. I believe that law to be universal, and one 

 which will never fail to guide in the selection of the best animal — 

 the greatest weight in the smallest relative compass. It will be 

 found that animals of this kind are the best machines for convert- 

 ing what is to be eaten, — grass, hay, turnips, meal, or anything 

 else, — into meat. Then, in selecting animals for beef, choose such 

 as have this general characteristic, that expand the most broadly, 

 where the ribs stick out the most nearly square from the back- 

 bone. That gives a large lung, and the larger the lung the greater 

 is the capacity for the assimilation of food. 



Another thing is often overlooked. Sometimes these marks will 

 be found to be illusory. In that case, you will always find a want 

 of co adaptation of the four stomachs to each other. Every one 



