78 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



Now, I want to treat of something that is hard to show 

 you, and that is, the spine. When I judge a dairy cow, I 

 always judge as though my money was in my pocket and I 

 was judging for it. When I judge a dairy cow, I pay par- 

 ticular attention to the construction of the back, to the con- 

 struction of the spine. I want a cow to show a very large, 

 strong, rugged expression of th« spine, — large processes; 

 and, if you will study the backbone of noted dairy cows, you 

 will see to your astonishment how much larger is the back- 

 bone of such cows than even of oxen. A gentleman who 

 heard me speak on this subject in Canada told me that he 

 was much impressed with what I said, and that he had taken 

 the pains to examine the skeletons of many of the famous 

 cows of that country, which had been preserved, and he had 

 discovered this remarkable development of the back. Now, 

 what is the meaning of it? It means this. The maternal 

 functions draw immensely upon the nervous system, upon 

 all the ganglionic centres, upon the spine and upon the 

 brain. The brain is the source of nervous power. Now, if 

 you have a very small channel in the back for the trans- 

 mission of nervous energy from the brain, you will find but a 

 limited force for the work of the cow ; but you will find 

 that, where the animal is constructed for this purpose, 

 nature takes care of it, and gives her a strong, rugged, full 

 back, and that, as a rule, she throws the back up. You will 

 often find in noted cows that the spine rises above the tops 

 of the shoulder-blades. This cow Tritomia belonged to the 

 Holstein herd of T. B. Wales of Iowa. She was the cow to 

 whom I gave the first premium when acting as judge of 

 three hundred and eight Holsteins at the Minnesota fair. 

 When I came to her, she was in a class of forty-eight cows. 

 I was wonderfully impressed with the expression of power 

 that that cow gave me. I examined her critically, and found 

 that she had evidences of her talent in every direction, and 

 particularly in this expression, the spine rising above the 

 shoulder-blades fully an inch. I gave her the first premium, 

 and there was a decided expression of dissent. Men said, 

 " What is the man thinking of ? There are lots of cows here 

 that are handsomer than she is." But I was judging the cow by 

 dairy talent, and dairy talent alone. I said, " Gentlemen, I am 



