84 JUDGING CATTLE 



quality. There should not be any appearance of weakness 

 due to fineness, yet the form should not be coarse and heavy, 



137. Head — Feminine, Lean, Long. A very essential 

 quality is for the head to have a feminine appearance. The 

 ideal head of a cow is devoid of the heaviness and coarse- 

 ness characteristic of the bull. Just as milk giving is a 

 peculiar trait of the cow so is fineness in the head. The 

 face should be long and especially lean with the features very 

 distinct. The eye should be full, mild and bright, and more 

 or less active. A kindly disposition is reflected by a mild 

 eye, while one that is bright is indicative of vigorous circu- 

 lation and good health. Large, dilated nostrils permitting 

 easy entrance of air to the lungs, with prominent windpipe, 

 are usually associated with depth of chest and lung capacity. 

 In size the ear should be medium, possessed of fine quality, 

 and a rich orange color inside. The strong horn of the bull 

 is not desirable, but rather one that is small and fine in 

 quality. The poll should be prominent, with the forehead 

 broad and full, showing strong development of brain. 



138. Neck — Thin. A slim, fine neck carrying the head 

 gracefully is a characteristic that adds much to the appear- 

 ance of a dairy cow. The fullness and heaviness here which 

 characterizes the beef animal should be completely absent. 

 The neck must be thin and join an equally thin and bare 

 shoulder, with the withers sharp but yet quite open. The 

 performing powers of the dairy cow depend greatly on the 

 depth and volume of the barrel. It has been noted the 

 important part that the heart, lungs and stomach perform in 

 the work of a dairy cow, so that the necessity of having a 

 barrel that will afford ample room for the work of these will 

 be readily apparent. The ribs should be long to supply 

 storage capacity for food. The backbone should be promi- 

 nent and strong, for through it and under it run two of the 

 largest channels, representing two of the most vital systems 

 of the body, the nervous and the circulatory. 



