SELECTION OF MILK COWS. 36-7 



dry and warm climate, all the qualities of the excellent milking 

 breeds possessed by countries in which the soil is fertile, the air 

 moist, and the sky often cloudy ; but as the influences of climate, 

 though very marked, take effect only in the long run, the prop- 

 erties of the animals imported are maintained though subject, 

 doubtless, to gradual deterioration during a period which varies 

 with the precaution taken to preserve them; and for several gen- 

 erations, the descendants of the individuals of a good imported 

 breed, give more milk than individuals belonging to a breed 

 formed on the spot, when hygienic circumstances are not favor- 

 able to milking properties. 



"It is not to be forgotten, moreover, that under the influence 

 of particular circumstances, which it is sometimes impossible to 

 call into existence, animals manifest properties which we cannot 

 produce directly. This explains why it is often more advanta- 

 geous to import qualities possessed by foreign stock, than to try 

 to develop them in native stock. 



"As milking qualities are, in a great measure, dependent on 

 structure and temperament, which are more or less hereditary, 

 descent exercises a great influence. 



"In each breed, therefore, we should choose individuals belong- 

 ing to the best stocks, and the offspring of parents remarkable 

 for their milking qualities; for it is certain that good milk cows 

 produce others which resemble them. 



"But it is, especially, when selecting stock for the purpose of 

 breeding milk cows, that particular care should be taken to select 

 individuals belonging to good families. A cow of a bad milking 

 family, or even breed, may occasionally be an excellent milker, 

 and more than this is not wanted when it is not meant to breed 

 from her. The same cannot be said when breeding is intended, 

 because there would be little chance of her transmitting the acci- 

 dental, or exceptional qualities possessed by her; whereas the 



