Rural School Leaflet 1205 



3. A cow has lliirt\'-two permanent teeth: twenty-four molars — twelve 

 on each side, six above and six below — and eight incisors. The incisors 

 are all on the lower jaw. The place of the incisors on the upper jaw is 

 taken Ijy a hard jx'id of cartilage against which the lower, chisel-like teeth 

 strilce when the animal crops the herbage in the pasture. The arrange- 

 ment of tlic teeth of the sheep is the same as that of the cow. 



4. A calf, when born, has two pairs of incisors. The other two pairs 



appear during the first month. When a calf is 



18 months old, he loses the middle pair of milk 



incisors and .grows a pemianent pair. The next 



pair, one on each side, is replaced at 27 months 



of age, the third pair at 36 months, and the ' 7^"T 



fovirth, or outside, pair at 45 months. The time Age of cattle told by per- 



r ,1 r i-u • • • •j.i.- mancfit incisors. The 



of tlie appearance of these mcisors vanes within middle pair, marked i, 



rather narrow limits, so that the age of young appears at eighleett 

 cattle can be told fairly accurately. A calf has ^marked 2^^appears at 



also a temporary set of molars, which are later twettty-seven months; 



1 1 •,■■ , 1 i ii . the pair marked ? at 



replaced with permanent ones; but they are not thirtv-six months the 



considered in estimating the age of the animal. outer pair, marked 4, 



5. The stomach of the cow and of the sheep mfntJi7 " J^r y-flve 

 has four compartments. The first three help in 



the storage and the mechanical manipulation of the food. The fourth is 

 the true stomach of these animals, in which that part of the digestion 

 takes place that is ordinarily thought of as taking place in a stomach. 



A cow chews most of her food twice. The first compartment of her 

 stomach is large and enables her to eat a large amoimt of food without 

 stopping to masticate it thoroughly. This food is stored temporarily in 

 the first compartment of her stomach. Later, at leisure, she can lie in. 

 the shade and re-chew all her food. After the second chewing, the food' 

 is swallowed and passes along to the true stomach and on into the in- 

 testines in the regular course of digestion. This subject is fully treated 

 under " Rumination in Cattle," page 1206. 



6. The questions regarding the food of cows are all answered in the 

 article on " Food and Care of Cows," page 1209. 



7. The breeds of cows are mentioned in some detail in the article in 

 this leaflet on" The Colors of Cows " (page 1221). In order of richness of 

 milk, the dairy breeds rank as follows: Guernsey, Jersey, Ayrshire, and 

 Holstein. The milk of the Guernsey and the Jersey contains from 5 per 

 cent to 6 per cent of butter-fat. The products of the Guernsey are golden 

 yellow; the products of the Jersey a somewhat. Eghter yellow, or cream 

 color. The milk of the Ayrshire will average abo^ 4 percent of butter-fat, 

 while the Holstein gives milk testing on the a^,^2rage. ahmxt 3.5, ger cent 

 butter-fat. 



