174 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



from the spine clown through her heart, must indicate that 

 she has a strong circulation ; but you do not want her brisket 

 as deep as a steer's, or like a Shorthorn bullock; you want 

 the shape I speak of, and you want with it a. certain delicacy 

 of organization which indicates that the circulatory system 

 is a strong one, and that neither the heart nor the lungs are 

 impaired. But to go back to the ribs. You want a rib, not 

 round, like your finger, but flat and wide. When you put 

 your hand on it, it should feel as flat as a lath ; and if you 

 can get at the edge, you should find the edge sharp, and not a 

 round bone, like the rib of swine. A round rib will answer 

 for a beef animal, but not for a good dairy cow. Her back- 

 bone, moreover, should be open and loose, so that if you run 

 your hand along it, you will feel those little cup-like cavities. 

 Let her hips be strong, not too wide, and her hind-quarters 

 upright, substantial, vigorous. Let her have a long hind- 

 foot. I never saw a short-toed cow in my life that would 

 perform the work of the dairy well. A long hind-foot, and a 

 good, broad, ample fore-foot. Then if, in addition to all this, 

 you can get a hide that is elastic and soft, covered with a 

 warm, substantial coat of hair, with a good milk- vein and an 

 udder which is packed up well between the thighs, and so 

 organized that there is no danger of inflammation, there you 

 have got a cow that will produce all the milk you ought 

 reasonably to ask, and which, when she has completed her 

 dairy-work, can be so fattened as to produce in an economical 

 way your five hundred and fifty pounds of as good beef as 

 can be fed on a mountain pasture or in stall. 



That is all I know about cows. There is a great deal more 

 to be said about feeding them, and talking care of them ; but 

 all that I refer to the meeting. 



J. D. W. French, of North Andover. Dr. Loring, in the 

 remarks which he made here yesterday, referred to the OakeS 

 cow. Ever since I began to breed cattle, the Oakes cow has 

 been thrown in my face. Only two or three years ago, in my 

 own town, a man stood up and read an essay before our 

 county society, in which he proved, to his own satisfaction, 

 that for twenty years, in Essex County, and in our town, 

 there had been no improvement in milch cattle. I said to 

 myself, "Can this be true, that in Essex County, and in our 



