LIVE-STOCK AND DAIRYING. 



375 



cows represented in the aggregate a value of nearly 

 half a billion dollars per year. In this country the cow 

 is practically the only animal kept for the production 

 of milk and other dairy products, but other animals, 

 such as goats, ewes, asses, mares, buffaloes or camels, 

 are used for this purpose in different parts of the world. 

 Milk Breeds. The cow secretes the white nutritious 

 fluid known as milk during a period of six to ten months 



DAIRY COW, WITH GOOD UDDER. 



from the time of calving. The yield of milk is largest 

 directly after calving, and gradually decreases after a 

 few months until it entirely ceases toward the time of 

 the next calving. A good dairy cow will give milk at 

 least nine months during the year; in many cases the 

 faculty of milk secretion is so highly developed that it 

 requires especial effort to have the cows go dry. The 

 most important breeds of dairy cows in this country 

 are the Jersey, Holstein, Guernsey, Shorthorn and Ayr- 

 shire cattle. All these breeds originated in northern 

 Europe. The large majority of dairy cows in our 



