1869. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



471 



"WHAT IS A GOOD COW. 



A writer in a recent number of the Oalaxtj 

 gives the following general hints regarding the 

 selection of a good cow for milk producing : 



First. Health, good constitution or diges- 

 tive apparatus, for which we require a capa- 

 cious belly. Second. That the largest possi 

 ble development of the animal shall ' e be- 

 hind, in the udder and parts adjacent. A 

 good cow is likely to be wedge shaped, of 

 which the head is the smaller end. Big heads, 

 or horns, or shoulders are not desired, because 

 they have to be nourished by the food. But 

 these are indispensable : a large bag, and hind- 

 quarters to support and minister to it. What 

 do our milkmen look for in selecting milk giv- 

 ing cows ? The first appearance, to a judge, 

 will convey an impression as to the health of 

 constitution of the cow. He will ask, also, a 

 bony frame, one that does not steal the fat 

 from the milk ; and he will feel the skin, to 

 find it flexible and covered with close softish 

 hair ; he will ask for good lung room, a capa- 

 cious belly, a wide rump and well developed 

 bag, covered with soft hair. Extending from 

 this bag forward, he will be desirous to see 

 prominent the two great veins which lose 

 themselves in the belly ; and on the back of 

 the udder he will look for many well-defined 

 branching veins. Then comes Gutnon's 

 "milk-mirror," which is a broad strip of hair 

 running up irom the udder to the vulva, which 

 he considered the one thing needful ; but 

 which has not, in this country, been found an 

 infallible test, though it is a good one. If, in 

 addition, the cow is gentle, good tempered, 

 you are almost sure of a milk-maker. Look 

 for that kind. 



— A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer writes : 

 "That bugs may be kept from peas, if before plant- 

 ing they are soaked for two or three days in cold 

 water. Be sure that there are no buggy peas about 

 the premises and you will raise as good peas, and 

 as free from bugs, as from seed that is fresh from 

 Canada. 



THE AMHERST TRIAL OF IMPLE- 

 MEJMTS. 



The committees of examination at the trial 

 of Mowers, Tedders, Horse-rakes, &c., held by 

 the New England Agricultural Society at Am- 

 herst, Mass., Jast June, have just (Aug. 7,) 

 published their report. The bulk of the report 

 consists of detailed descriptions of the sev- 

 eral machines furnished by their builders or 

 proprietors. From a table headed "Schedule 

 of Dimensions, Record of Trial, Test of 

 Draft, «fec., of Mowers" we make the follow- 

 ing abstract of the statistics of the machines 

 which took the gold and silver medals : — 



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