TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 135 



also usually shorter and rougher in the rump than bulls, but the 

 rump should be as long, level, wide, and smoothly fleshed as possible. 



So far as condition is concerned, it must be remembered 

 that the breeding cow is more valuable on account of the progeny 

 she produces than on account of her own excellence as an animal 

 suitable for slaughter, hence we do not fault her if she lacks in 

 fatness, provided her constitution, form, and quality are good. 

 However, the beef cow must possess the ability to fatten readily 

 when put on heavy feed, for "like produces like," and if the cow 

 will not take on flesh readily, then we cannot expect her calves 

 to be profitable in the feed-lot. It is on this account that beef 

 breeding bulls and cows are shown in heavy flesh in the show 

 ring, thus indicating their capacity as beef producers. Beef 

 cows are sometimes made so fat for showing that their usefulness 

 as breeders is injured by a heavy deposit of fat about the genera- 

 tive organs. The practice has, therefore, been severely criti- 

 cized, yet the danger is not great if the feeding is carefully 

 managed, and the advantages so far outweigh the disadvantages 

 that the showing of breeding animals in high condition seems 

 destined to continue. 



In the show ring, little or no attention is paid to the udder 

 of the beef cow, but the man who breeds beef cattle cannot 

 ignore the cow's milk-producing qualities. The udder should 

 be of good size and shape, with well-placed teats, and the cow 

 should be able to furnish ample milk for her calf during at least 

 the first six months of lactation. E. S. Bayard, a breeder of 

 beef cattle and Editor of the National Stockman and Farmer, 

 has the following to say regarding the selection of beef cows 

 and the importance of good milking qualities* "Good-sized, 

 roomy, robust cows; with breadth but not coarseness; big of 

 barrel, loose of hide, short of leg, neat of head, mild of manner, 

 placid of countenance, with a decidedly feminine expression, 

 are the kind. Cows that are good milkers, as a rule, are good 

 and regular breeders they do not get too fat to breed. Her 

 calf is started well, is kept going, and develops rapidly, for there 

 is no feed for a calf or any other animal that will take the place 

 of mother's milk. The cows which milk most and lose flesh 

 most rapidly when suckling calves are the quickest-fleshing 

 cows. They milk down rapidly and they recover flesh quickly 

 when relieved of the strain of milk production. This character- 



* Perm. Dept. Agr. Bui. 235. 



