156] Animal Friends and Helpers 



resemble donkeys. They are also considered valuable as pack 

 animals, being noted for their sureness of foot and their great 

 powers of endurance. As a rule, they cannot reproduce their kind. 



Cattle 



About the first thing a toddler learns about cattle is that "cows 

 say moo," and that cows give milk. The cow thereupon becomes 

 an impressive figure, milk being the most important and most 

 frequent item in a child's diet. Even a child of five is more likely 

 than not to tell you gravely that "milk gives vitamins." His older 

 brother is interested in cows too but mainly because they are 

 the pawns in our televised folklore of ranchers and rustlers. 



Cows FOR MILK 



Man has developed all the varieties of domesticated cattle 

 from wild species of Asia and Europe. It took many generations 

 of selective breeding to achieve such marvels as the Holstein cow, 

 which can produce its weight in milk in two weeks, and the 

 Jersey, which gives more than five thousand pounds of rich milk 

 in a year! Other noted dairy breeds are the Guernsey, Ayrshire, 

 and brown Swiss cows. 



There are certain features by which you can recognize a good 

 milch cow. These include: the head high between the eyes, which 

 should be clear, large, and placid; a large mouth with a muscular 

 lower jaw; a deep wide chest, hips much broader than the 

 shoulders, and a large, well-supported abdomen. As you would 

 expect, the udder should be large and its four quarters of equal 

 size. 



CATTLE FOR BEEF 



Aside from the cattle bred for milk production there are 

 the breeds designed as beef factories. Among the best known of 

 these are the Hereford, Aberdeen- Angus, Galloway, and Short- 

 horn. You can see many contrasts between them and the milch 

 cows. The beef cattle are big and full across the back and have 

 thick, short necks. (You will notice that the milch cow has a 

 thin, fine neck.) The shape of the body is markedly different in 



