466 



Journal of Agriculture. 



[lo Aug., 1908. 



producers of milk with only moderately sized lulders, and for small pro- 

 ducers of milk to have large udders. The de\elopment is generally 

 proportioned to the milking capacity of the cow. The up-to-date know- 

 ledge of ,the functions of the udder' is that it is not a mere sack in which 

 the milk is .stored until drawn at milking rime, but that it is a milk 

 maker that operates while she is teing milked ; the milk-making func- 

 tions being stimulated by agitation from the process of milking. If the 

 cow is not contented during the milking period the agitation will not 

 have the desired effect of producing milk in liberal quantities. Hence 

 the necessity of quiet and careful handling. 



Escutcheon. — F. Guenon, a leading authority on escutcheons, state.s — 



" During the many years which have ])assed since I gave to the public the 

 first edition of my "Treatise on Milch Cows" men of science and practical breeders 

 have given it great attention. The surface of the escutcheon is distinguished hv 

 its upward-growing hair, which takes a direction opposite to that which covers the 

 other parts of the skin. The hair of the escutcheon is also distinguished bv its tint, 

 which is duller than that of the other hairs. The escutcheon starts from the 

 middle of the four teats, a part of its hair extending forward under the belly, m 

 the direction of the navel, while the other part, beginning u little above the hocks, 

 spreads as far as the middle of the hinder surface of the thighs, ascending on the 

 udder; and in some cases running up as high as the top of the vulva. The fineness 

 of the hair of the escutcheon, and the colour of its skin, indicate the quantity an.i 

 c|uality of the milk. Cows which have the skin of the escutcheon sleek, white, and 

 covered with long, spare hairs, will give a thin, serous milk ; while those whose 

 udder is covered with an escutcheon of ^gjiort furry hair, will give good and rich 

 milk. The indications of the escutcheon are often modified, favorable or un- 

 favorable, by various feathers which are pretty generally met with, whose value 

 may be judged bv their form, their character, th^ir >;ituation, and their size." 



BELLE OF COLAC.' 



Bred by the late Hon. J. H. Connor, M.L.C., and winner of Lord Jirasse\ 's 

 Gold Medal for the best cow in the Butter Test ("om petition at (leelong Agricultural 

 Show. 



Except the oval feathers as shown in the escutcheon in the illustra- 

 tion, on page 467, all those which encroach uj)on the escutcheon, lessen, 

 in greater or less degree, its favorable indications. Guenon places this 

 particular feather in the second order, and says cows of this order in 

 full milking will give 21 quarts of milk a da\ , and will continue this 

 quantity until they are seven months gone with calf. The marks of 



