76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



consequence the average cow of the United States produces 

 only one hundred and twenty-five pounds of butter a year. 

 According to the United States census, it is less than one 

 hundred pounds a year ; but I think I am not far out of the 

 way in putting it at one hundred and twenty-five pounds. 

 And yet there is not a cow to-day jn Massachusetts that can 

 be kept for less than one hundred and fifty pounds of butter 

 a year. The man who keeps such a cow is universally in 

 debt for her board. 



Now, this Hereford cow gives you this long, straight flank, 

 this heavy ham, Poland-China in its outline; and you will 

 find, if you examine the make-up of this cow with the ends 

 of your fingers, that she is very closely knit, and that the 

 flesh is even. Sometimes you can almost insert your fingers 

 between the muscles of a dairy cow, and that is one of the 

 indications by which you can judge a good cow. You cannot 

 do anything of that kind with this Hereford heifer, because 

 the phlegmatic temperament has caused her to form a differ- 

 ent condition of muscle. She is bred for beef. She is a 

 square block, with legs attached to it. She has everything 

 about her that indicates the beef temperament. 



Now, let me call your attention to this Guernsey cow, for 

 instance. You see how differently she is made. In the first 

 place, you have a different form of nostril. When you get 

 home, look at your cattle in the light of what I tell you. 

 Take out the best cow you have got, and follow the lines I 

 have given you. You will find that a good cow, a cow with 

 a decidedly dairy temperament, has a large, open nostril, — 

 the same as a good race-horse, the same as a good fox-hound. 

 In all of those three animals there is an agreeing shape in the 

 nostril. The dairy cow must of necessity be a large breather. 

 The milk is elaborated from the blood, and the blood is 

 affected very largely from the lungs : therefore, a good dairy 

 cow should have large breathing apparatus. You see in 

 this Guernsey cow the bony outline of the head ; you see 

 how bright and full the eye is. A good cow should show 

 a very large, full eye. Why? Because a full eye is indic- 

 ative of a decided tendency towards a strong expression of 

 the nervous temperament. A good cow should also show a 

 large development of brain, and that is seen in the length 



