No. 4.] MILCH COWS. 39 



the country, as we have been working out these points to- 

 gether. 



We fix the tendencies in our animals before they are six 

 months old, and I think that the dairy forms may be deter- 

 mined before the calf is two months old, in the evidence of 

 intelligence, in the dairy-udder development and in various 

 ways. 



Mr. N. B. Baker (of Savoy). How long can that cow 

 that yielded that enormous amount stand up? Should we 

 not have a limit ? 



Dr. TwiTCHELL. I think so. All machines have a limit. 

 That cow was one of the most noted Ayrshire producers of 

 the country. The record she made was a remarkable record, 

 but she was always a remarkable producer. 



Mr. Baker. I asked the question because of the fact that 

 a neighbor of mine brought up a cow to twenty-one and one- 

 half pounds of butter in seven days. The cow was about four 

 years old. In two years' time she gave out, broke down, 

 and to-day is dead. 



Dr. TwiTCHELL. That might be a very natural result. 

 Before we bring our cows up to ten thousand three hundred 

 pounds of milk we must be prepared to care for them upon a 

 ten thousand pound basis, else they fail to maintain them- 

 selves. But it is true that we have not reached the normal 

 capacity of our animals except in very rare cases. 



Dr. LiNDSEY. Why did that animal break down ? What 

 was the cause therefor ? 



Mr. Baker. It was considered to be over-feeding, — try- 

 ing to keep her up to that standard. 



Dr. TwiTCHELL. That is an assumption in part, and I 

 am going to admit that it is correct, l)ut I do not feel that 

 it determines anything. Before you can settle the ques- 

 tion, it must be known what the conditions were, where the 

 cow was housed, how fed, how she was treated through all 

 the time during that year and the year before, before you can 

 say absolutely what was the cause of the breaking down. 



Question. I would like to ask the objection to allowing 

 a calf to suck its mother. 



Dr. TwiTCHELL. You would obtain a good beef animal in 

 that way. The slightest approach to fatty tissues in a dairy 



