DAIRY FARMING DAIRYING. 277 



from the rear or front there should be considerable thickness, while viewed from 

 below, the furrow separating the 2 glands should not be too deep. With these quali- 

 ties should be secured great elasticity of tissue when the glands are emptied. The 

 so-called meaty udder always looks too plump after being emptied, while the elastic 

 one, following this operation, shows a well-shrunken or shriveled condition. 



"The most common fault of the cow's udder, as commonly seen, is its inferior 

 development in front. Often the hind part is well rounded out and carried well up 

 behind, while the fore quarters are small and poorly developed, and instead of being 

 carried forward a distance along the line of a circle, the front line is carried up to 

 the belly quite vertically, as it were. While quite generally the fore teats hang on 

 a little higher line than those behind, when the fore quarters are inferior in charac- 

 ter, sometimes these teats are so much higher than the hind ones that the udder 

 seems to terminate with the front line of the teats." 



A comparison was made of the yield of milk from the front half and 

 hind half of the udders of 65 different cows, representing several types 

 of udder. In these comparisons the fore part was milked first. The 

 results are tabulated in full. In 15 cases the yield was greater from 

 the fore part than from the hind part and in 8 other cases it was the 

 same from both parts. In the remaining cases the yield was larger from 

 the rear part and usually the difference was quite considerable. " These 

 cows, in 113 milkings, produced 474 lbs. 10 oz. milk from the fore part 

 and 553 lbs. from the hind part, a difference in favor of the latter of 

 78 lbs. 6 oz., a gain of ICi per cent, a no inconsiderable amount." 



A test was made with 9 cows in which the milking was reversed, the 

 hind part being milked first. " According to these figures, the fore 

 udder yielded about the same amount, whether milked first or last. 

 The hind udder, however, shows an average of 0.6 lb. more when milked 

 first than last." 



The effect of inferior front conformation on the yield was studied on 

 13 cows whose udders were more or less inferior in the fore part. The 

 results showed "a very striking increase in favor of the yield of the 

 hind udder as compared with the fore, amounting to a difference of 

 about 57 per cent; such a difference would not exist were the fore 

 udders in better balance with the hind parts." 



The fore and hind parts of well-balanced udders were compared in 

 case of 9 different cows. 



"Here the difference in yield of the 2 parts is comparatively small, averaging only 

 0.2 lb. per day. It is important to note here, however, that not infrequently where 

 the udder is well developed in front, the hind is carried out and up so high that the 

 front part produces a notably less amount than the other part. . . . 



"The practical bearing of this matter lies here. The average cow has an inferior 

 udder and notably in its fore part. If now a judicious selection is practiced in 

 breeding, may not a material gain in milk flow be secured by developing the fore 

 part of the udder? It will be safe to say that there will be. The greater the develop- 

 ment of the fore udder, the more perfect will the entire organ be likely to be, and 

 the larger the relative amount of milk it will yield. 



"To secure such a development, more care will have to he exercised in the selec- 

 tion of our cows in relation to the mammary gland. While constitutional vigor and 

 digestive capacity should always receive first consideration, the breeder of dairy 

 cattle cannot afford to breed inferior udders any more than can a breeder of trotters 

 afford to breed slow-gaited animals for a fast track." 



