84 BETTER DAIRY FARMING 



The forehead should be broad between the eyes and slightly dished. 

 The muzzle is particularly important and should be large with good 

 sized nostrils. Size of muzzle is a good indication of feeding capac- 

 ity and size of nostril is a good indication of breathing capacity. 



132. Eye and ears indicate temperament. — The cow's eye 

 is indicative of her temperament. It should be large and placid, 

 but together with the carriage of the head and size and placing of 

 the ears, it should give evidence of quality, alertness and the 

 possession of enough nervous energy to carry the animal through 

 a heavy lactation. The ears should be set well upon the head and 

 the tips should not rise any above the poll. The ears should stand 

 up well and be inclined forward when the cow is alert. The texture 

 of the ears should be rather fine and it is thought by some experts 

 that the color of the secretion in the inside of the ear indicates 

 something of the capacity of the cow to produce butter fat. The 

 yellower and more abundant the secretion, the more butter fat the 

 cow is supposed to yield. The hair on the head, ears and face 

 should be fine. The horns, if present, should be of good quality, 

 not too scaly and rather tapering. For the best interests of the 

 cow and her owner, the horns should be removed from all cows in 

 grade herds and possibly also in purebred herds. (66) This can 

 most easily be done during the first three weeks of a cow's life. 

 The neck should be lean and long with little dewlap. The fineness 

 and quality of a dairy cow are shown up quite largely in the ap- 

 pearance of the head and neck. The attachment of the head to the 

 neck should be neat with a clean throat. The neck should set 

 smoothly into the shoulders. 



133. The vital organs. — Forequarters are important. They 

 house the vital organs that really run the machine. They should 

 be light but roomy. The heart girth should be large and the 

 floor of the chest broad and wide between the legs. There must be 

 room for capacious lungs. This means that the ribs must be well 

 sprung, the withers should be rather sharp and the shoulders not so 

 prominent as to give a coarse appearance to the animal. The 

 shoulders can give some idea of angularity to the animal, but must 

 never appear rough or coarse. 



