572 How to Choose a Good Milch Cow. [December, 



supposed to give milk rich in butter, while a black cow gives much 

 milt, which is poorer in butter. A white cow looks larger than she 

 really is, while a black one looks smaller. According to the law of 

 absorption and radiation of heat, a black cow will absorb much solar 

 heat in summer, and radiate, or throw off, a large amount of animal 

 heat in winter. On the other hand, a white cow will absorb less 

 heat in summer, and radiate less in winter ; and the practical result 

 is, that the black cow is too warm in summer and too cold in winter, 

 while the white one is cool in summer and warm in winter. This is 

 somewhat opposed to the popular idea on the subject, which attrib- 

 utes a cold appearance to a white animal in winter, and the contrary 

 to a black one ; but that this is a popular fallacy may be seen, inde- 

 pendent of the scientific explanation of the phenomenon, from the 

 fact that the native or wild breed of Britain were all white, and are 

 so still in Chillingham Park, where the animals are never housed; 

 and also from the fact that white is the prevailing color of all arctic 

 animals — bears, foxes and hares, all being of this hue. The practi- 

 cal conclusions deducible from the fact that a black cow absorbs 

 much heat in summer and radiates much in winter, are : first^ she 

 must be more susceptible of, and more injured by, sudden atmos- 

 pheric changes than a white cow; secondly^ in cold weather she will 

 lose much heat by radiation, and hence must eat more food to keep 

 up the animal heat at its proper temperature. Again, in warm 

 weather she will require less food for this purpose than a white cow, 

 but will be oppressed with heat, and more liable to profuse perspira- 

 tions. The result of these conditions on the milking properties of 

 the two animals will be, that the black cow will be liable to have her 

 milk injured in quality by an excess of heat, and consequent irrita- 

 tion of the system, and profuse perspiration, in summer ; while, on 

 the other hand, the cream or oily part of it will be diminished in 

 quantity in cold weather, by the cow using more of the food she 

 eats to keep up the natural heat of her blood. This accounts, in 

 some degree, for the popular notion that the milk of a black cow is 

 generally poorer in butter than that of a white or mixed color. 



Temperament and Constitution. — Animals, like human beings, are 

 differently developed in their nervous, sanguineous, muscular and 

 lymphatic constitutions, and their tempers and dispositions vary ac- 

 cordingly. Each breed of cattle is characterized by peculiarities of 

 temper, activity and endurance. The Ayrshire cow presents a good 

 specimen of the union of the nervous and sanguine temperaments, 



