Addenda. 85 



ADDENDA. 



The appointment of a commission by Governor Hartranffc, in 1878, to in- 

 vestigate and verify tlie theories of M. Giienon in judging and selecting 

 milch cows, has resulted m much good to the agricultural community. The 

 members of that commission, including Mr. George Blight, who acted upon 

 a similar committee m 1853, thoroughly imbued with the accuracy of the 

 s^^stem and the desire to extend its usefulness, have continued to explain 

 this mode of selecting cows whenever an opportunity offered. This has 

 been very frequent, and many hvmdred cows have been examined in public, 

 and the system explained in every section of the country. 



It is fortunate that aU other modes of judging cows do not militate 

 against M. Guenon's views ; they give the judge only a more certain mode, 

 and, if he has had much practice, a nearly infallible one. There are some 

 points which are in full unison with Guenon's views, but do not appear in his 

 worlc, and may be spoken of as follows : 



1st. All bovine animals have on the skin of the back a quirl in the hair, 

 which seems to be a sort of dividing line or point between the hair on the 

 front of the animal and that on the hinder portion. This should be found 

 m the center of the ridge of the animal, that is, equi-distant from the head 

 as from the root of the tail, and should be well defined, but of short fine 

 hair. Frequently it is to be seen on the shoulder ; when there, coarse hair 

 is generally the accompaniment, and with that, a thick or tough skin, and 

 no great milking qualities, or if much milk is given, it is not for a long time, 

 nor is the millc of rich quality. The heaviest milkers have this mark, usual- 

 ly on the middle of the back, and the richest, with short fine hair. In 

 short, the nearer the middle of the back, and the smaller the quirl and the 

 finer the hair, the most generally will the cow be the better milker and of 

 the richest quality. This mark Mr. Blight and myself have been testing for 

 a long time, and we feel now that we can recommend it as a very good ad- 

 ditional point to judge from. 



2d. Tlie tail should be long and squarely placed on the animal at the root, 

 and of thin fine quality, with a good curly or corkscrew switch, and the 

 bone of the tail should extend fully down to the knee and as much below 

 it as possible. The horns should be small, waxy, and crumpled inwards and 

 downwards a little. If they are long, they should be thin and sometimes 

 rather flat. 



3d. Bulls ; the same remarks apply to these. Their hind legs should re- 

 semble, as much as possible, those of the cow, with great length between 

 the hoof and the first joint; this indicates their aptitude to beget heifer 

 calves and good milkers. 



4th, On raising calves, proper nourishment should be gi^-en ; if stinted, 

 the inferior parts develop to the injury of the better ; the head and horns 

 will be out of proportion to the rest of the body. 



