200 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mr. Hazard. Yes, sir; and generally you will find that 

 they are broader on the vertical escutcheon. Where they 

 fall off in the thigh-escutcheon, generally the vertical takes 

 it up. In the Flanders you will oftentimes see that one is 

 widened in proportion as the other is narrowed. That is 

 one of the peculiarities of that breed. 



Question. To what order should you say such an es- 

 cutcheon as you have described belonged ? 



Mr. Hazard. If she had the ovals, I should call her first- 

 class. If she had not the ovals, I should call her second- 

 class. If she had but one oval, she would be a decent cow. 



Mr. Everett. What percentage of cows would have a 

 first-class escutcheon? 



Mr. Hazard. I don't think ten per cent would have it. 

 They are very rare. I suppose really not more than five per 

 cent. 



Question. Did you ever find a good cow without a good 

 escutcheon ? 



Mr. Hazard. No, sir : I never have seen one. I have 

 heard there are such, but I would go a good distance to see 

 them. Wherever I have seen a good cow, I have found she 

 had a good escutcheon. 



Dr. Wakefield. Suppose you have a cow with a narrow 

 escutcheon on the thighs, running up a wide vertical escutch- 

 eon, indicating that she would give milk longer than others, 

 may not such a cow, in the main, be as good as a cow 

 that is cut off earlier, but gives more at the time when she 

 first calves? 



Mr. Hazard. People have different views about that. 

 The theory of the Darlington brothers is, that, if cows are 

 going to give so many quarts in a year, they had better do it 

 in four or five months, and then go dry, because, while they 

 are making their butter, they feed very heavily ; and the argu- 

 ment is, that it is cheaper to have a cow of that character 

 than one that gives milk during a longer period. We will 

 say that a cow is going to give three thousand quarts of 

 milk. They argue that it is better to have her give the 

 three thousand quarts in five months, rather than eight or 

 nine, because they have got to keep her running so much 

 longer to get the same amount. 



Dr. Wakefield. Suppose you find a cow that gives milk 



