184 NOTES ON FIELDS AND CATTLE. 



brought out. Finally, keep away from fairs and 

 jockeys' hands. In horses especially, deal with men 

 you know, and never buy an unsound overworked 

 animal, technically termed "a screw." Don't be 

 tempted by cheapness ; it is far better to give four 

 times the price for a sound good horse that will be a 

 comfort and a pleasure to you. 



The external character of the first-rate milch cow 

 is beyond a doubt diverse from that of the rapidly 

 fattening sort ; by the same token that good milking 

 properties are rarely to be found in an animal having 

 a tendency to fatten. All the old native breeds excel 

 as milkers ; whether it be that from the earliest 

 period when milk, butter, and cheese were man's 

 articles of food, they were selected and bred with 

 that view, their descendants inheriting their disposi- 

 tion, it is impossible to say. It seems very probable. 

 Anyhow, no sooner is their shape amended to the 

 approved cubic form, and their aptitude to fatten 

 strengthened by crossing with some fat-producing 

 stock, such as the improved shorthorn, than they lose 

 place in the dairy. To put aside the extraordinary 

 number of minute, and it would appear somewhat 

 fanciful, indications of a good milch cow enumerated 

 by French authors, and which may be put on a par 

 with the all but countless signs of a pure Nejd mare, 

 you may judge much from the exterior of a cow 

 whether she is intended for the dairy or not. Not 

 by the udder only, that is occasionally deceptive, 

 even when fairly treated. Of course, when a cow is 

 brought to market with a tight bag that has not been 

 drained for at least two days, while her calf has been 



