96 CITY MILK SUPPLY 



capacity is supposed to show strength of constitution. Large feeding 

 capacity is essential, for whatever may be the inclination to produce, it 

 cannot be successful unless the barrel is of sufficient size to handle large 

 amounts of the bulky foods The barrel should be long between the 

 heart girth and hips, and should be broad and deep, with wide well-sprung 

 ribs, far apart. Good teeth and a broad muzzle are important. 



The milk organs are the udder, teats, milk veins, and milk wells. 

 The udder must be large and must have quality. It should be broad 

 and long rather than deep and the fore udder should be well developed. 

 Fat and fleshy udders are undesirable, for those distended with such tissue, 

 even though they may be of large size, may have less capacity than smaller 

 ones of better quality. The teats should be of convenient size and placed 

 at the four corners of the udder. Since milk is manufactured from the 

 blood the size and development of the milk veins which carry it from the 

 udder are regarded as important, and large, crooked, much-branched 

 veins are considered an indication of good milking capacity. However, 

 more importance may have been attached to the milk veins than is 

 warranted. Dr. King of Maine pointed out that their external appear- 

 ance does not indicate their blood-carrying capacity for the walls may 

 be thick and the lumen small and furthermore, that in some animals the 

 blood flows more rapidly, than in others. Graves of the Oregon Experi- 

 mental Station tied off the milk veins of a cow so that no blood could 

 pass through those that are ordinarily seen extending forward from the 

 udder and found that there were produced, neither ill effects on the cow 

 nor decrease in her milk flow. Careful investigation is needed to de- 

 termine the importance of these observations. The milk veins enter 

 the wall of the belly through holes known as milk wells and their number 

 and size is considered indicative of the amount of blood it is possible to 

 carry back into the body from the udder. 



A cow must have a well-developed nervous system to direct and regu- 

 late milk secretion, digestion and other functions, but the nerves must be 

 under control and the disposition quiet, for her to rank well, as a dairy 

 animal. Large milk production seems to be closely associated with 

 abundant nervous force. 



A proper nervous temperament is denoted by prominent bright eyes, 

 broad forehead and a prominent loose-jointed backbone. The nerves 

 branch off from the spinal cord between the vertebrae, hence the larger 

 the nerves the more open the vertebrae and the wider apart the ribs. 



In appearance a good dairy cow must show quality in bone, hair and 

 hide and must have large capacity in the rear where the food is digested 

 and milk secreted. A good dairy cow does not usually carry flesh long 

 after freshening; therefore the hips and shoulders are angular, the back- 

 bone prominent and the ribs plainly seen. 



Crandall points out that: 



