FRANCOIS GUENON, HIS MARK. 175 



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and texture of the skin; while another will judge by the 

 feminine appearance, the wedge-shape, the yellow ears, the 

 small head, and the broad muzzle, or by some other favorite 

 method. Yet, with all these marks, every dairyman will 

 occasionally purchase an animal that deceives him at the 

 milk-pail or the cream-pot, and she is apt to be the handsome 

 one. The system of Monsieur Guenon does not interfere 

 with any of these modes of judging; it simply harmonizes 

 with and becomes an adjunct to them. Now, if you have 

 one, three, five, or six points by winch to judge the value of 

 an animal, why not add to them still one more, especially if 

 that one is worth more than all the others put together? 

 With none of these modes can you tell just what a cow will 

 do ; with all of them combined you may select a pretty good 

 cow, and at other times you may not : but by the escutcheon 

 marks, and the other points by which Guenon judged, 3 r ou 

 can very surely tell whether the cow about to be purchased 

 is a good one, how much milk she will give, how much butter 

 she will make, and how long she will milk. In these times, 

 when competition is so keen in the butter and cheese market, 

 it behooves every man to understand his business, and have 

 his herd of the best. The cow is his best machine ; and the 

 old adage of " goods well bought are half sold " applies here 

 perfectly. A well-selected cow will always prove a profita- 

 ble investment. This system will enable any one to tell the 

 cow which is going to fail in her milk, and go dry for too 

 long a time to be profitable; and it should be acquired, if 

 only for that purpose. 



SKETCH OF GUENON. 



First let us see who Guenon was. Guenon as a boy was 

 a young cowherd, living near Libourne in France. His 

 father, a gardener, had early taught his son the varieties of 

 plants, and thus he was led to notice the classifications and 

 kinds of fruits and plants. He studied the works of the 

 best writers on botany and agriculture, and applied his 

 knowledge by following up all the ramifications of the vege- 

 table kingdom, studied their external signs, and ascertained 

 their qualities and productiveness. His mind was thus 

 trained for developing his after-discoveries. 



When he had the care of cows as a cowherd, he took 



