HOW TO BUILD A HERD OF DAIRY COWS 25 



a wild eye is not usually a continuous milker. The 

 jaws should be clean cut, strong, and muscular, the 

 teeth in good order, and she should possess a nice 

 broad mouth which denotes feeding capacity. The 

 nostrils should be wide and full, showing constitu- 

 tion and lung capacity. 



Having examined the head we next run our 

 hand along the back and feel the backbone moving 

 gently but with firmness, as any sudden movement 

 may cause the animal to jump away, even if she be 

 held by a halter or rope. Beware of the cow which 

 continually walks sideways from you in a circle 

 while she is being held, and which will not allow 

 you to come near to FEEL HER. We next run our 

 hand carefully along the back and find a strong 

 rugged backbone, which shows that it encloses a 

 strong and large spinal cord. This is important, 

 because milking capacity is the result of nervous 

 force, and this nerve force starts from the brain and 

 runs along the spinal cord. Between each section 

 of the backbone nerves branch off from the spinal 

 cord, and the larger these nerves are the more open 

 are these sections and the ribs further apart. This 

 gives the dairy cow the appearance of being very 

 loose and relaxed, which may be gathered quickly 

 by glancing at the general appearance of the animal 

 when first approaching her. Next stand back a 

 little from the animal and note the depth of the 

 body, which should be round and deep with ribs 



