THE MANAGEMENT OF STOCK 275 



be returned through the veins. In time, the veins enlarge in 

 order to make room for the return of the blood from the udder. 

 In some of the better milking strains, these large veins are in- 

 herited, and can be seen and felt on young animals which have 

 never given milk. 



480i. Contrast the ideal points of the beef animal. This 

 animal, like the milch animal, should have a small head and 

 horns, and be light in the throat-latch. If the neck, legs and 

 tail be removed from the beef animal, the body is almost a per- 

 fect parallelogram. The neck is short and very heavy where 

 it is set onto the shoulder, the back straight, thighs built well 

 out at the rear, and thick. The body of the animal is more 

 rounded, the short ribs or loin is broad, the flank is well 

 down, the shoulders are heavy and well covered with meat, 

 the floor of the chest broad, which places the front legs wide 

 apart. The whole structure of the animal indicates slowness of 

 motion, quietness, and a disposition to lay on flesh and fat, or 

 in other words, to be selfish. No milk veins appear, the tail 

 is shorter than the milch cow's, and the receptacle for milk 

 small. As a rule, the beef animal has a softer and more velvety 

 touch than the dairy animal, since the one is usually fat and the 

 other lean. A strong, low brisket (the hanging part between the 

 fore legs) is desired, not because the flesh of it is good, for it 

 is quite inferior, but because it is an outward indication of su- 

 perior feeding qualities. It will be noticed that in the dairy 

 cow the brisket is prominent, but thin. It indicates good feed- 

 ing qualities : that is, a good appetite and power to digest and 

 assimilate food. True, it seems to have no direct connection 

 with the production of milk, but animals which are markedly 

 deficient in brisket and thin in the waist usually have delicate 

 constitutions and precarious appetites. 



480r. A moderately thick, elastic skin and soft, velvety hair 

 are much desired, not only in cattle but in horses. A thin or 

 papery skin denotes lack of constitution. A thick, inelastic skin 

 denotes unresponsivenessin the production of either milk or beef. 



48(W. With these ideals for cattle, compare some of the 

 points of excellence in a trotting horse : The front legs have 



