TREATISE O.N MILCH COWS. 



The :";reroiiif prc-ceeojiga took place at die General il-red:i3 of u^: 

 ie Prefecture, oa the 4di of Joly. 

 A trae extract. 



S>:;e:v. sz the Hotise (rf 



r— Gimrai of dke fyd^. 



AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF AURILLAC. 



At its General Meeting of the ,26th May, the following Repon was pre- 

 sented and read on the subject of the experimaits which I had been called upon 

 :o make: 



Report. 



Genilemen -• M. Francis Gnenon, a hosban^itnan oi Liboame, has ejcablisfced a niedsod. deem- 

 ed bv him infallible, by means of which, apon a mere inspection of anv Milch Co«-, dse njav be 

 nidged o^ and we mar know the qualiiv of her milk, the qcantirr of it -srhich ^je is capable ot 

 yieldins. and also the time dnring -which she can give mfTk. 



.4. Comminee appointed by the Agricultural Society of Bordeaux, and composed of seTeral well 

 inibnned agriculturists, and of a very distiasuisbed Professor of the Veterinary art c£ tbe Depart- 

 ment of Gironde. had already borne testimony, after putting it to numertKis tests, to tbe efficacioas- 

 aess of the system of M. Guenon : and the result of its observations had been puUi^ted in a veTy 

 remarkable Repon. addresed to all the Agricultural Societies of France. 



Your Society, considering that this discovery might be of high impartaaoe to cor country, -vrhkn 

 derives its income chiefly finom the product of Milch Cows, entered into otHiB^NHideatoe with hs 

 a:i±or. and gladly accepted his obi^ing offer to ccane to Auversrse and subject his mediod lo tije 

 •.est of experiment. 



Yesterday, tbe i^th of May. M. Guenon arrived at Aurillac, and inamediately proceeded \rith 

 •J5e members of your Committee to the Vevrae farm, belonging to the Presideni of the Society. — 

 He examined with tbe utmost care the fine cow stable of diat dcmtain, wbidi eznbiaces one him- 

 dred Cows, of the best varieties that w^e i>03sess. He dien began his experiments upon a ntonber 

 of Cows which were presented to him. and which had deagnedly been selected fitsn aznaog the 

 best, the moderately good, and the nx>st indiSerent of the establishment. Upon each c^diese sep- 

 arately. M. Gnenon pronounced ^vith precision, both in regard to her daily yield of rnflt , and to 

 the time during which she continued to give milk after being got with calf "^Ye must acknow- 

 ledge. Gentlemen, that his decisions corresponded almost invariably ■with the starenaents obtained 

 from the persons in whose charge the Cows are. The only variances we bad to notice vreie some 

 very digbt ones in regard to tbe quantity of milk. On tbU point, -we must call your attimyicm xo 

 the fact that the Cows of that establishment are always fed high, upon clover or od>er artificial 

 grasses which considerably augment the quantity of mflfc ; and thsr tirU may have caused tibe mis- 

 take of M. Guenon. which consisted in his pronouncing the yield to be a little less T^sn it leaDv is. 

 It is to be remarked that he was totally onacquainted vrith the usages of the country in resard to 

 the feeding of Cattle. 



In order thoroughly to convince your Committee of tbe reality of the discovery, M. Gnenon 

 made us acquainted with tbe different signs upon which his method rests^ With reference to 

 these signis which are external and apparent, and stamped by the band of Xamre up<Kt each ani- 

 mal, he has established eight classes or families, that cc^nprebend aQ the rarieties of tbe Cow KKind 

 ia the various Provinces oi France. Each class is drrided into eight orders ; and each of these 

 orders into three sections, according to size, as beins hiirh. of medium hi?ht. and low. 



According to tbe numerous observations of the author, all Cows belong to some «»e <rf these 

 classes or families^ and take their place under some one of tbe eight orders of tbe dass. Each 

 class possesses marks differing in ^ape and sixe from those of tbe other classes ; and these marks 

 are easy to distinguish, on merely looking at them. In each class, tbe Cows of the first orders are 

 the best of the class, and the yield of milk is in proporckm to tbe order : so that the two hisber or- 

 ders are the most productive, the third and fourth orders ttderaWy good, and the otbras fanmo - off 

 more and more, according to their grade. 



M. Guenon applied his system, in our presence, to a ntimber <rf Cows which were presented to 

 him a second time : he made us remark their various sign& which differed in size and shape, and 

 were larger or smaller according as the Cow was a good or a bad milker. He inibrmed us that 

 his system is equally applicable to young animal* ar.d that their fsrx-e qualities in re3a.-^3 to the 



