GENERAL PROBLEMS IN DAIRY HUSBANDRY 339 



541. Dairy vs. beef type. When in full flow of milk a high producing 

 dairy cow is generally spare and shows an angular, wedge-shaped form, 

 a roomy barrel, spacious hindquarters, and a large udder. This con- 

 formation is in strong contrast to that of the low-set, blocky, beef animal, 

 with its compact, rectangular form, and broad, smooth back. These two 

 types are the result of careful breeding with opposite objects in view. 

 The beef animal has been developed to store in its carcass the largest 

 possible amount of meat. On the other hand, for generations the dairy 

 cow has been bred for the primary object of producing large yields of 

 milk and butter fat. The great improvement in productive capacity in 

 each breed of dairy cattle has come thru long-continued selection based 

 on performance at the milk pail. As a result, tho a good dairy cow may 

 put on flesh when she is dry, on freshening the impulse to milk pro- 

 duction is so strong that she uses for making milk, all the feed she can 

 eat. Even under liberal feeding she shows little or no tendency to fatten, 

 but rather grows spare and lean as lactation progresses. 



To determine whether cows of dairy type were more economical pro- 

 ducers than those of the beef type, Haecker of the Minnesota Station 3 

 divided the Station herd into 4 groups, depending on their type and 

 conformation. The first group, the cows of which were spare, had deep 

 bodies, and were of distinctly dairy type, required only 21.2 Ibs. of dry 

 matter in their feed for each pound of butter fat produced. The cows in 

 the second group, which were spare but lacked depth of body, required 

 25.5 Ibs. dry matter per pound of butter fat; the third group, which 

 showed some tendency toward beefiness, required 26.4 Ibs. dry matter; 

 and the fourth group, which were decidedly of the beef type, consumed 

 31.3 Ibs. dry matter for each pound of butter fat produced. These beef 

 cows thus required 47 per ct. more feed per pound of butter fat than 

 the cows of good dairy type. 



In view of the widely differing nature of the functions of milk and 

 flesh production, it is not surprising that both can not be developed to 

 the highest degree in the same animal. With Smith 4 we must conclude 

 that the most perfect beef cows are not economical milkers, and the best 

 dairy cows are not satisfactory beef makers. 



542. Good and poor producers. That cows of high productive capacity 

 are more economical producers of milk and butter fat than low yielding 

 cows is shown by studies of Carlyle and Woll at the Wisconsin Station. 5 

 Studying the records of the cows in the station herd during 5 win- 

 ters, they found that the high-producing cows naturally consumed con- 

 siderably more feed than the low producers. This was, however, much 

 more than offset by their larger yield. The high producers yielded on the 

 average 26.6 Ibs. milk and 1.2 Ibs. fat daily, while the low producers 

 averaged but 14.6 Ibs. milk and 0.7 Ib. fat. The high producers required 

 only 102 Ibs. dry matter in their feed for 100 Ibs. milk and the low 



Minn. Bui. 35. *Wis. Bui. 102. 



4 Profitable Stock Feeding, p. 38. 



