364 THE ESSENTIALS OF AGRICULTURE 



pass through the udder. The milk veins serve as an index to 

 the amount of blood that flows through the udder. These veins 

 carry blood from the udder back to the heart. They pass inward 

 about midway between the hind and fore legs. The milk wells, 

 or openings, through which the milk veins enter the body, should 

 be large. There may be more than one milk well on each side 

 of the body, as the milk veins branch in some cases after leav- 

 ing the udder. Cows have been known to have as many as five 

 milk wells on each side. The quarters of the udder should be 

 even in size and not divided far up, but the base, or sole, of 

 the udder should be flat. The teats should be even, of good 

 size for milking conveniently, and set squarely on each quarter 

 of the udder. The hair on the udder should be fine and soft, 

 indicating quality. 



474. The selection of the herd bull. The future develop- 

 ment of the herd depends to a great extent upon the kind of 

 sire used. The sire is half the herd. He should be pure bred 

 and be backed up by good ancestry. If possible, one should 

 seek a sire whose mother, or other close female ancestry, have 

 good records of production. If it is not possible to know the 

 record of production, one should by all means see the mother 

 of the sire and note how closely she conforms to the dairy type. 

 If the sire's father has daughters that have proved to be good 

 producers, he is more certain to transmit the dairy qualities 

 desired. Very often it is possible to buy an old sire who has 

 proved to be a good breeder. 



475. Feeding the dairy herd. To obtain satisfactory returns 

 from even a well-selected or well-bred herd, the animals must 

 be fed properly. A cow is merely a machine for converting feed 

 into milk and butter. Nature teaches us how the cow should be 

 fed. The cow does her best work in May and June, when she is 

 receiving nature's ration grass in its choicest form. Food is at 

 hand in abundance ; it is palatable, balanced, and easily digested. 

 The cow herself is comfortable. The intelligent feeder will 

 strive to approximate these conditions as nearly as possible 

 throughout the year. 



