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Dairy Cattle. Compared with the beef animal, a typical milch 

 cow is distinguished by her feminine, refined look and leaner 

 appearance, shown particularly perhaps in the head, neck, shoulders, 

 withers, and thighs and limbs generally. At the same time, owing 

 to the greater length and depth of the " coupling " combined with 

 the increased depth and width of the hind quarters, the general 

 outline, whether seen from the side or from above, is more or less 

 " wedge-shaped " instead of being nearly rectangular as in the 

 beef animal. The body of a milking cow should be comparatively 

 long and loose ; the skin soft and mellow to the touch and, although 

 fine, not too thin. Soft and silky hair, especially on the udder, is 

 desirable ; and the tail should be thin and fairly long. 



The true milking type of head is long and lean, with distinct 

 features and of unmistakably feminine appearance. The eye 

 should be full and bright ; the nostrils dilated ; the windpipe 

 prominent ; the ear of medium size and fine texture ; the neck 

 slim, fairly long, and free from chokiness at the throat, with thin- 

 ness of shoulder to harmonise ; the junction of neck and shoulder 

 fairly pronounced. The ribs should be long, and the backbone 

 strong and prominent ; the " coupling " long and deep, with a 

 fair amount of space between the last ribs and the hook-bones, 

 giving great belly capacity which is essential. The hindquarters 

 carry no surplus flesh, and a great many heavy milkers have a 

 decided rise between the loin and the tail, although a straight 

 back-line is usually considered desirable. The hook-bones should 

 be wide apart and prominent, with a depression or hollow in the 

 quarter, due to the absence of muscle between the hook and pin- 

 bones ; the thigh thin and in-curving. The pin-bones should be 

 prominent and fairly wide apart ; twist high and open. 



The size and shape of the escutcheon, /.<?., the area of reversed 

 hairs on the thighs and on and above the udder, is believed by 

 those who accept M. Guenon's theory, to be an indication of the 

 milking powers of a cow. Great width in the lower parts of the 

 area is thought to imply heavy-yielding capacity early in the season, 

 and if width be well maintained in the upper parts, the animal 

 should sustain her yield of milk well to the end. 



The Udder. The udder, consisting of two symmetrical milk 

 glands usually spoken of as four quarters, should be of great 

 capacity but not fleshy, and after milking it should appear to hang in 

 folds of soft elastic skin. The fore-quarters before milking should 

 extend well forward and lie close up to the belly, the hind-quarters 

 being rounded posteriorly and attached high and well back, while 

 the sole of the vessel, from which the teats depend perpen- 

 dicularly, should be on the whole flat and horizontal, though the 

 actual shape varies according to the breed. The teats, four in 

 number, ought to be well and uniformly apart, equal in size, 

 squarely placed, and large enough to fill the hand ; they should 

 discharge easily on pressure, but should not let the milk escape 

 before milking. 



The Milk Veins. Large, tortuous and knotted milk-veins, one 

 on each side under the belly, with at times intermediate smaller 



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