184 BEGINNINGS IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 



under side of the body, they would meet at a common point 

 in front, if sufficiently extended. Thus we see one of the 

 wedge features. If one stands in front and looks towards the 

 rear of the animal it will be noticed that the thickness through 

 the front quarter at the shoulder is less than that of the hind 

 quarter at the hips or just below. This gives a second wedge 

 conformation. The third wedge is seen by standing at the 

 shoulder and looking down over the withers and ribs. From 

 the withers the ribs gradually widen out to form a noticeable 

 wedge in the upper half of the body. Thus we may see 

 the three wedges in the conformation of the dairy cow. 



The general form of the dairy bull shows much less of 

 the wedge shape than the cow. However, the best bulls 

 have a certain amount of thinness at the withers, and the 

 body is long and muscular. The depth at the hind quarter 

 is much the same as at the fore quarter, although the males 



are frequently somewhat 

 high at the rear flanks. 

 While the thighs, from a 

 side view, appear muscu- 

 lar, as is the case with the 

 cow, from the rear they 

 should be thin and widely 

 and highly separated. A 

 beefy appearance of the 

 thigh in this type is most 

 i j Fig ; 10 u i Si ^ B e * s . Cornu cp ia Nether- undesirable. 



land. A Holstem-Fnesian bull, showing 



Phot - Quality in dairy cattle 



has certain features in 

 common with the beef type, such as fineness of hair and bone 

 and mellowness of skin. The chief difference is in the thickness 

 and length of the coat of hair, which is usually much shorter 

 and thinner on dairy than on beef cattle. The dairy ani- 



