Types and Market Classes of Live Stock 161 



milk-producing qualities. The udder should be of good size and shape, 

 with well-placed teats, and the cow should be able to furnish ample 

 milk for her calf during at least the first six months of lactation. E. S. 

 Bayard, a breeder of beef cattle and editor of the National Stockman 

 and Farmer, has the following to say regarding the selection of beef 

 cows and the importance of good milking qualities:^ 'Good-sized, 

 roomy, robust cows; with breadth but not coarseness; big of barrel, 

 loose of hide, short of leg, neat of head, mild of manner, placid of 

 countenance, with a decidedly feminine expression, are the kind. 

 Cows that are good milkers, as a rule, are good and regular breeders — 

 they do not get too fat to breed. Their calves are started well, are 

 kept going, and develop rapidly, for there is no feed for a calf or any 

 other animal that will take the place of mother's milk. The cows 

 which milk most and lose flesh most rapidly when suckling calves are 

 the quickest-fleshing cows. They milk down rapidly and they recover 

 flesh quickly when relieved of the strain of milk production. This 

 characteristic of quick fleshing usually accompanies good milking, but 

 not persistent milking of course. Beef-bred cows are not, as a rule, 

 all-the-year milkers, nor is it desirable that they should be. Milk 

 enough is vital to success, and breeders of beef cattle cannot afford 

 to neglect it any more than they can afford to make it a leading object 

 of their breeding. So get lady cows, feminine type, with good udders, 

 and they can be found in all the beef breeds. Let the steery cow alone 

 as you would the bull that lacks masculinity.' 



The cows which raise good calves should be retained in the herd as 

 long as they are useful, and those which fail to produce good offspring 

 should be sent to the butcher no matter how attractive they may be 

 individually. The attractive fat cow that gives no milk and raises a 

 small, scrawny calf is not worthy of a place in the herd, whereas some 

 of the good mothers may nurse down pretty thin and look rather 

 unattractive after they have suckled their calves for a time. When a 

 cattle breeder designates his plainest-looking cows as the best producers 

 in his herd he is often fully justified in doing so. Save those that are 

 best by test, and replace the unprofitable cows with the best of the 

 crop of heifers. 



In many instances, heifers are bred at 15 to 18 months old, but 

 it is better practice to begin breeding them at about 21 months so that 

 they drop their first calves at about 30 months. The period of gesta- 

 tion often varies from 274 to 287 days, and the average is about 280 

 days. 



Value of records. — The feeder ought to weigh his cattle regularly, 

 and keep careful and complete records of the weights and of all items 



1 Beef Production, Penn. Dept. Agr. Bui. 235, pp. 35, 36. 



