r 



Sec. 3.] COWS— BREEDS COMPARED. 47 



tlio animals remarkable fine handlers; nrnzzle of the nose white; eyes full 

 and mild; ears yellowish, or orange-color inside, of moderate size; neck 

 rather long, with little dewlap ; shoulders oblique ; legs small and straight, 

 and feet in proportion ; chest of good width ; ribs round and expanded ; 

 loins of first-rate quality, long, wide, and fleshy ; hips round, of medium 

 width ; rump level ; tail full near the setting on, tapering to the tip ; thiglis 

 of the bull and ox muscular and full, and high in the flank, though in the 

 cow sometimes thought to be too light ; the size medium, generally called 

 small. 



" As milkers, they do not excel, perhaps they may be said not to equal, 

 the other breeds, and they have a reputation of being decidedly below the 

 average. In their native country the general average of a dairy is one 

 pound of butter per day during the summer. 



" Tiiey are bred for beef and for work, and not for the dairy, and their 

 yield of milk is small, though of a rich quality. 



"On the whole, whatever may be our judgment of this bi'eed, the faults 

 of the JSTorth Devon cow can hardly be overlooked from our present point 

 of view. Tlie rotundity of form and compactness of frame, though they 

 contribute to her remarkable beauty, constitute an objection to her as a dairy 

 cow, since it is generally thought that the peculiarity of form which disposes 

 an animal to take on fat is somewhat incompatible with good milking quali- 

 ties, and hence Youatt says: 'For the dairy, the North Devons must be 

 acknowledged to be inferior to several other breeds. The milk is good, and 

 yields more than the average proportion of cream and butter; but it is 

 deficient in quantity.' He also maintains that the value of this breed for 

 milk could not be improved without probable or certain detriment to its 

 grazing qualities. 



"But the fairest test of its fitness for the dairy is to be found in tlie 

 estimation in -which distinguished Devon breeders themselves have held it 

 in this resjiect. A scale of points of excellence in this breed was established 

 some time ago by the best judges in England ; and it has since been adopted, 

 with but slight clianges, in this country. These judges, naturally prejudiced 

 in favor of the breed, if prejudiced at all, made this scale to embrace one 

 hundred points, no animal to be regarded as perfect unless it excelled in all 

 of tliem. Eacli part of the body was assigned its real value in the scale: a 

 faultless head, for instance, was estimated at four; a deep, round chest at 

 fifteen, etc. If the animal was defective in any part, the number of points 

 M-hicli represented the value of that part in the scale was to be deducted /i/'o 

 rata tVom the hundred, in determining its merits. But in this scale tlie cow 

 is so lightly esteemed for the dairy, that the udder, the size and shape of 

 which is of the utmost consequence in determining the capacity of the milch 

 cciw, is set down as worth only one point, while, in the same scale, the horns 

 and ears are valued at two points each, and the color of the nose and tlie 

 expression of tlie eye are valued at four points each. Supposing, therefore, 

 that each of tlicsc points was valued at one dollar, and a porl'cct North 



