22 GuENON ON Milch Cows. 



Of the Bastards. 



Guenon denominates those cows which give milk, much or little, so long 

 as they are not got with calf; but, when impregnated, begin to fall off in 

 their milk. The term he uses is batard, which means, in English, bastard, 

 spurious, of a mixed breed, mongrel. We should have preferred to call 

 them spurious cows, as the term bastard does not exactly express the 

 meaning we apply to that word ; but, as it ha» before been translated 

 bastard, and is so known by many, we retain it. 



The bastards are often the best looking cows ; have finely developed 

 escutcheons, and many give a great deal of milk, some poor quality and 

 some rich ; but, as soon as they are pregnant, they go dry very soon, or 

 fall off rapidly in their milk, while others give very little milk at all. 

 From their fine show, they deceive a great many, and Guenon cautions 

 buyers, as the most skillful will make mistakes. He has, however, given 

 a series of drawing?, by which they can generally be discovered. 



These bastards mostly conceive well, and the first time they are put to 

 the bull, they vary in the quality of milk they give like other cows. The 

 flow of milk is at its height during the first eight days after calving, though 

 of bad quality. It then diminishes a little, and keeps on at about the same 

 yield until she conceives again, when it diminishes again, more or less 

 rapidly. 



To discover a bastard, consult the engravings which are given to each 

 class. To the first class, the Flanders, there are two kinds. The first, 

 which is the most common, has on each edge of the vertical escutcheon, a 

 feathery appearance, and where this is strongly marked by the down — and 

 up-growing hairs meeting, and they interlock and staud out from the skin, 

 and, besides, are harsh and wiry, and generally shiny, glistening, and look- 

 ing of lighter color, beware of them. The harsher, coarser they are, the 

 shorter time will the cow milk after getting with calf. The second kind 

 of bastards among the Flanders will have an oval on the vertical escut- 

 cheon, generally near the middle part, of about two to three inches in 

 length, by one and a half to two inches wide, on which will be found coarse 

 wiry hair, and the harsher it is, and the larger the oval is, the sooner the 

 cow will cease to milk. It may often be discovered by the glistening ap- 

 pearance of the hair on it. 



On all the other classes, the bastard marks consist of two oval patches 

 of hair, one on each side of the vulva ; and the larger they are, the more 

 pointed in shape, and the coarser and more wiry the hair on them, the 

 sooner the cow will cease to milk. 



The importance of learning the bastard marks is very great, as the 

 buyer can safely avoid them, and leave them to those less skilled. While 

 he may buy the less showy looking cow for much less money, and get a 

 better animal than the unskilled man will obtain even for the higher price. 



All animals are more readily judged correctly, and the system can be 

 learned more easily, in summer than in winter, both on old and young; for 



