68 CHOICE OF THE BULL. 



fineness of form, mellowness of skin, large hind quarters, 

 large and well-developed veins and escutcheon. 



A cow of a race or family not noted as milkers may 

 chance to be an excellent milker, and this is enough, 

 if we do not desire to breed from her ; but she would 

 not transmit her exceptional qualities like a cow of 

 which these qualities were the fixed characteristics, 

 constant and transmissible in the breed. These con- 

 siderations apply also, as already said, in the choice of 

 a bull. The attention of practical men has been so 

 much directed to the best points of good cows, of late 

 years, that it becomes necessary to study to propagate 

 these, if the breeder desires to find buyers for his stock. 

 The buyer judges more from external signs than from 

 the intrinsic qualities of the cow, with which he may not 

 be acquainted. 



To explain the variations in the transmission of 

 milking qualities, we should bear in mind that these 

 qualities are not found in wild cows, and that they are 

 developed only when man can, by a particular course of 

 treatment, as by the act of milking, the separation of 

 the sexes, etc., cause certain natural powers to act with 

 greater strength than others ; that they incline to dis- 

 appear as soon as these powers, the nature of the soil, 

 the peculiarities of climate, the properties of plants, 

 and the temperament of the cows, are permitted to act 

 according to the original plan of creation ; so that the 

 variations which we consider as sports of nature are 

 incontestible proofs of the uniformity of her works. 



It is only by observing animals carefully, by noting - 

 accurately their good qualities and their faults, by 

 watching the circumstances in which individuals are 

 produced, raised, and kept, that we can account for 

 what seems to us a sport or caprice of nature. We can 

 then tell, first, how the same bull and cow have pro- 



