STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 317 



vidual cow. A dairy cow tends to be spare and angular. She tends to 

 be wedged-shape. Whether it is necessary for her to be wedged-shape, 

 spare and angular, it is unnecessary to discuss — we know the cow that 

 has the highest production of milk and butter tends in that direction. A 

 cow that is engaged in making milk does not need a wide back for making 

 sirloin steaks. Her vocation is milk-making, and she wants to convert 

 Tier feed into milk. She should therefore be spare, angular, tending to 

 wedged-shape, with a deep, long body, which indicates large digestion, 

 and then we want a well developed nervous system. The eye indicates 

 that. You can gain a great deal of knowledge of a cow by looking at 

 the eye and head. A man's face sooner or later in life reveals his char- 

 acter, whether it be strong or weak. A dairy cow should have a full, 

 prominent eye — not too open, not too quick — not too sleepy, not too 

 phlegmatic. Brother Haecker called my attention last summer to the 

 difference between two cows : One of them took five minutes to knock 

 a fly off of her head while the other one had her fly off before the first 

 one got started. I had never noticed that difference before. 



Mr. Curry — Her temperament is also shown by. the number of times 

 she chews her cud — the quickness of her movement. 



Mr. Glover — A lean man has a different temperament from a fat 

 man. A dairy cow should not have a tendency to fatten, A dished- 

 faced head is not a good indication. She should be wide between the 

 eyes. Notice the vertebrae through which the spinal cord runs and 

 from which the nerves are sent out to different parts of the system. It 

 should slope to the tail, be strong and prominent, showing a well de- 

 veloped nervous system and a good, strong back. We want a strong 

 back in a dairy cow. A cow that is level on the back does not indicate 

 a good milker, but it indicates that she has a heavy load on her back 

 bone and that has a tendency to make her sway back. Aim to have the 

 back strong enough to support the digestive organs. A tail well down 

 shows a well developed nervous system, also the distance between the 

 feet. The general appearance of a good dairy cow is looseness. 



Mr. Curry — How often do j'-ou test the cows? 



]^.Ir. Glover — One week every nine weeks, estimating four weeks 

 back and forward, covering a period of nine weeks, or practically a 

 month back and forward. 



I like to see an udder well up between the hind quarters. I like 

 to see it lie in folds when it is empty— not a meaty udder. I like to 

 see the four teats evenly placed. The udder is an important thing. 

 It is better to select a cow with a good udder than one with an inferior 

 ndder. The milk veins leading from the udder indicate the blood supply 



