VAN PELT'S COW DEMONSTRATION 



call of their master break into a run in their haste to reach 

 the feed, to fill the milk pail and when the meal is finished 

 shake their heads and wish for more. 



Loafers 



From the dairy standpoint cows with lymphatic tem- 

 perament are loafers and as a rule do not produce enough 

 milk and butter-fat to pay for the feed they eat, for it must 

 be remembered that all food converted into fat that is dis- 

 tributed over the cow's body when she should be giving milk 

 is wasted from the dairyman's standpoint. 



The great need of the American dairyman is to sort out 

 and get ride of these low producers. In the bovine family, 

 as in the human family, they never pay for their own board. 

 Some friend or relative must do that for them. 



There are many indications of nervous temperament. 

 Chief among these is a face that is broad between the eyes, 

 and a long, broad forehead which may taper to the poll. It is 

 in this region that the brain is located. It is the brain that 

 controls the nervous system, which in turn governs all 

 functions of the cow; among these are digestion, blood cir- 

 culation and milk secretion. If the face and forehead of the 

 cow are narrow there is sufficient indication that the brain 

 capacity is limited and that the brain, itself is small and the 

 control over the nervous system is limited. Nervousness 

 more likely results than nervous temperament. 



Temperament Reflected by the Eye 



Temperament is always reflected in the eye of an ani- 

 mal. A large, bright, prominent, placid, alert eye with an in- 

 telligent expression gives assurance of nervous temperament. 

 In the same manner, the dull, sluggish, receding eye, even 

 though it may or may not have an intelligent expression, 

 denotes the sluggish temperament. No experienced judge 

 of human or bovine nature overlooks the story the eye tells. 



It is well for the feeder and breeder of cattle to be ob- 

 serving at all times of the lessons that may be learned from 

 the eyes of his animals. 



From the brain the spinal cord passes backward through 

 the spinal vertebrae or back bone. Open-jointedness and 

 freedom from fat indicate nervous temperament as repre- 

 sented by these parts. 



The statement is often made that the spinal processes 

 should be large and rugged, indicating good development of 

 spinal cord. Anatomists of authority, however, assert that 

 the higher the position an animal occupies in the scale of in- 

 telligence the smaller and lighter the cord relatively. It is, 



[37] 



