POINTS OF A GOOD COW. 173 



the base, but large enough to indicate that there is a strong 

 constitution there ; a head wide between the eyes, and pretty 

 high above the eyes to the root of the horns. I think a cow 

 that has a broad base to her head is the best. And if she has 

 a large, luxurious mouth, that looks as if she was made for 

 business, and can fill her stomach rapidly, so that she can lie 

 down and digest and repose, she will be all the better fitted 

 for the business of the dairy. I would have a cow's neck 

 small enough to be graceful, but not too small; not an ewe 

 neck, — that is not necessary, — but gracefully, delicately and 

 elegantly set on, without a waste muscle in it, but with muscle 

 enough to make it a strong, vigorous and powerful part of 

 the animal's body. The shoulder of an animal of this descrip- 

 tion should be as near like the shoulder of a good trotting- 

 horse as it can be ; not straight up and down like a thorough- 

 bred's. The shoulder of a good dairy cow should be a little 

 loose, with the blades not rising above the backbone, with 

 strong, powerful muscles, and a good substantial base, with 

 a fore-quarter under it as straight as a plumb-line. Crooked- 

 legged, knock-kneed cattle are never graceful, and seldom 

 profitable. The legs should be strong and well defined, and 

 the cords and muscles should stand out clean and prominent. 

 The milk-vein should indicate a good superficial vascular 

 system, which means simply this : it is an organization in 

 which the superficial circulation of the blood indicates that 

 what are called the secretory organs are active in the interior. 

 The next sign of a good cow is an open, bony structure ; not 

 a coarse or loose-fibred, bony structure, but a bony structure 

 that is so articulated or hung together that there is elasticity 

 and ease of motion about it. Now, where are you going to 

 find the indicative point that will tell this story? Put your 

 finger into the point of the shoulder, and see if the cow has 

 a cup-like cavity there. If she has, ten chances to one she 

 will be a good milker ; but if not, — if her shoulder is hard 

 and compact, even if she is milking well to-day she will be 

 likely to fail to-morrow. 



Now, when you get past the shoulders, what do you come 

 to next? You come to the ribs. Upon a good chest develop- 

 ment depends almost everything else in a dairy cow. She 

 must have a finely-shaped chine, and the spring of her ribs, 



