240 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK n. 



as archaic and altogether illusory. The breed of a cow, and her own 

 individual qualities, have, along with suitable food, everything to do 

 alike with the quantity and quality of her milk, whereas her colour of 

 hair has little or no bearing upon the question. 



There is a considerable difference in the milk -yielding capacity of 

 different cows of any given breed, in respect to quantity and quality, 

 one or both. It usually happens that milk is lowest in quality where 

 it is highest in quantity, and vice versa ; but no unvarying rule will be 

 found to exist on these points. The *' stream of tendency," however, 

 is opposed to any idea which may be held that quantity and quality, in 

 their highest development, are found in partnership, as a rule, in any 

 cow or breed of cows. Nor does it by any means follow that the largest 

 breeds of cattle yield the largest quantity of milk, and certainly it does 

 not seem that they yield the largest total amount of solids. Individual 

 cows of the larger breeds may perhaps be found whose yield of milk, 

 and of total solids in that milk, are greater than those afforded by 

 animals of the smaller breeds ; but such cows are somewhat rare, and 

 do not occur so frequently as to stamp the breed to which they belong 

 with a dairy reputation corresponding to the size of the animals. 

 And, indeed, it may be said that the richest milk is not always that 

 which is yielded in small quantities, either by large or small cows, 

 though at the same time it commonly is. 



As a matter of fact, there is an almost infinite variability in the flow 

 of milk in different animals of most breeds of cows, and it will probably 

 be found that this variability occurs most generally among the larger 

 breeds, though at the same time the smaller breeds are not by any 

 means exempt from it. In every breed, there may be found tribes and 

 families of cows which are much more famous for milk than is the 

 breed at large ; and any family or tribe bearing such a reputation owe 

 it, as a rule, to the careful breeding and training, in that direction, to 

 which they have been subjected. A large flow of milk is seldom main- 

 tained for a long period, yet, in reference to this, cows do vary very con- 

 siderably from each other ; for while some cows will hardly milk 

 through half the year, it is with difficulty that others can be let dry for 

 the next time of calving. 



It will be seen, therefore, that scope enough exists for the care and 

 energy of any one who, by careful selection and weeding out, has the 

 mind to build up a herd of cows famous for quality and quantity of 

 milk, in which these features shall become hereditary. It is, too, a 

 work of time, of untiring attention, of sound judgment, and it can only 

 be accomplished by a man whose heart is in his business. Breed and 

 breeding are more potent than locality or country, in reference to the 

 evolution of the milk-yielding function ; and food and treatment have 

 their influence as well, an influence not inferior, perhaps, in the long 

 run, to that of natural propensity. In building up a herd of cows 

 great at the milk-pail, it is imperative that only such sires should be 

 used as are known to come from cows and families that are excellent 

 for milk, for the bull indeed is half the herd. 



The test as to quantity of milk is easily made by keeping a record of 



