CHAPTER VI 



Ability 



Ability, used in describing the cow, refers to her powers 

 of performing her required function of milk giving. Al- 

 though ability is synonymous with capacity, their difference 

 in meaning is great enough to justify their use in differ- 

 entiating between the cow's receptiveness for food and her 

 power for manufacturing the nutrient from the food into 

 milk products. 



Given vigorous constitution, large capacity, nervous 

 temperament and copious blood flow to the lower regions, 

 the description might apply equally as well to some other 

 animal as to the cow. 



It is the fifth point, ability to produce milk, that is the 

 great, distinctive, maternal trait with which nature has en- 

 dowed all mothers to a degree sufficient to supply their babes 

 with sustenance. This trait has been developed in the cow 

 by man to such abnormal proportions that she has almost 

 become an artificial being. 



Milk Making 



In all nature there is no demonstration of ability so in- 

 teresting to the dairyman as that exhibited by the udder in 

 taking from the blood feed nutrients and, by a process un- 

 fathomable by man, manufacturing them into butter-fat, 

 casein and milk sugar, which are combined in certain well 

 regulated proportions with water and given off to supply 

 the necessities of her infant offspring and to add her mite 

 to the world's great milk supply. 



Any indications, therefore, that denote efficiency in the 

 cow's specialty of milk giving must not be ignored. As 

 the whole of this important work is carried on in the udder, 

 this organ, with its accessories alone, remains as an indication 

 of ability. 



Size, form and texture of udder development are the 

 principal indices. Size should be sought in length and 

 breadth of udder rather than in depth, for several reasons. 

 Largeness of udder gained by depth results in a pendent 

 udder, one that hangs from the body and dangles or swings 

 between the legs. Such udders are disagreeable to milk. 

 When the cow lies down on the cold ground or cement floor 



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