182 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



broader the vertical portions are ; and the more perfect and 

 equal, or uniform in the shape of its class* it is, the better is 

 the escutcheon. 



The lower half, or broad portion, of the escutcheon, is of 

 nearly similar shape in all the classes ; only in the lower 

 classes it is not quite so broad, nor quite so high up, as on 

 the better classes ; while the vertical portions gradually 

 diminish both in height and breadth, until, in the tenth class, 

 there is none at all. We, therefore, in speaking of the 

 escutcheon, divide it into two parts. The lower portion, or 

 broad part, running on to the thighs, we call the thigh- 

 escutcheon : the upper portion, which extends up to the vulva, 

 or towards it, we call the vertical portion. The thigh-es- 

 cutcheon in all the classes resembles a round-pointed shovel; 

 while the vertical portion may be likened to the handle. 

 Now, remembering this fact, that the vertical or upper por- 

 tions are what mostly distinguish the different escutcheons, 

 will show that most attention is to be paid to the vertical 

 part ; also it is about the upper part the blemishes usually 

 appear which detract from the value of the escutcheon. 



The lower part, or thigh-escutcheon, indicates the quantity 

 of milk the cow will give ; the upper portion, or vertical 

 escutcheon, the time she will milk ; and the color of the skin, 

 the feel of it, and the character of the hair on the escutch- 

 eon, will tell the quality of the milk. And these three 

 points must be judged partly, also, by two other matters, — 

 the size and the breed of the cow. The nearer any cow 

 comes, in hair and mellowness of hide, to the characteristics 

 of a first-class Jersey cow, the nearer she comes to first 

 quality for richness of milk and for butter. 



The effect produced by the change in the direction of the 

 growing of the hair, which forms the escutcheon, is not glar- 

 ing on the animal. It is merely a difference of lustre, and 

 the gloss on the surface of the escutcheon, from the part of 

 the skin surrounding it. The hair of the escutcheon is finer, 

 shorter, more furry, and more silky. Its appearance at first 

 glance makes one think tins part of the animal has been 

 shaved, and is perhaps quicker seen than the hair on the 

 rest of the animal. It is more easily seen in summer, when 

 the hair is shorter, and usually the animal is cleaner, and the 

 hair more glossy from the nature of its feed ; also it is to be 



