378 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. DoC. 



the end of ten or twelve years we will have a herd of fine, pure bred 

 stock, and when we come to sell them we can get better prices for 

 them. 



Now, all good cows have certain points. What are they? To 

 show them I have had the picture made. It is a very fair picture of 

 a good grade cow I had. First, let us see the characteristics of the 

 cow of way back. Now, the cow that Adam had after he left horti- 

 culture, was not much of a cow. What was she? W^ell, she was 

 fitted for her work. She had to live out in the jungle, and fight 

 for her existence with the wild beasts, and it was a case of the 

 survival of the fittest. She had to fight her way through the heavy 

 brush and overhanging trees. Let us see her characteristics: A 

 small barrel, for she had only what food she found closed ribbed for 

 protection; a small udder; a short neck and heavy horns, character- 

 istic of the fighter. We should call that a very sorry cow, but she 

 was probably the best suited to the times and her environment. 

 Now, as to the points of the good cow: We can not fail to be im- 

 pressed by her girth through here (the body), by the large nostril, 

 and bright eye. The animal that has a prominent and snappy 

 bright eye is the one that is likely to have a good constitution. The 

 large wide nostril means a good pair of lungs; and a heart that is 

 doing its duty. Then we have the thin head, with light horn, and 

 prominent, pointed shoulder; the sharp, not flat back, widespread 

 at the haunch, to insure easy delivery of the calf; ribs well set; 

 high pelvic arch, long tail. What has the tail to do with it? Only 

 this, that the tail is the extension of the spinal column, and a long 

 tail indicates strong nerve force. 



We can just as well breed good udders and easy milkers as the 

 contrary. I have to-day descendants of the fourth generation of 

 easy milking cow, and they have all more or less of her tendencies. 

 Then I have two or three heifers descended from a cow that was not 

 an easy milker, and I don't raise any more of them. Life is too 

 short. 



Then comes a large, crooked, milk vein. Some people are rather 

 inclined to ridicule that, but I have found it a good test. It shows 

 the flow of blood from the udder to the heart. Now, when there is 

 not much milk, there is not much blood there. What I lay most 

 stress on is the hole in the end of it; if the hole is large, it indicates 

 that it is built to carry plenty of blood. We will probably find this 

 larger on the left side than on the right. These are always things 

 that are present in a good dairy cow, and they are characteristic of 

 a good dairy cow. We find the same characteristics in the sire. 



I want the head and the neck to be thin. I want him to have the 

 same arched spine, and the same contour here as in the cow, and I 

 want to find four good, rudimentary teats in the sire, which are well 

 placed. I lay great stress on their being placed, because the sire 

 reproduces himself, and you will find four times out of five that the 

 teats of the heifer are much the same as the rudimentary teats of 

 the sire. Then I like to see a good milk vein. Then I take the loose 

 skin at the flank and stretch it; if it stretches out long and flexible, 

 it is a good indication of the udder on his heifers. I was judging at 

 a fair up in Washington County, my state, and there was a farmer 

 there who was in the habit of carrying off the prizes each year, and 

 I gave him a premium for one or two of his cows, but none for his 



