14 DAIRY FARMING 



region is indicated by a high, long, broad rump, broad 

 hips and loins, and good width between the pin bones. 



Additional observations on type should be directed 

 to the following: Shoulder, free from flesh and rather 

 sharp at the withers ; tail, long and refined ; hocks, clean, 

 well apart, and pointing straight backward, giving roomi- 

 ness for the udder ; front legs, straight and well apart, 

 with toes pointing directly forward. 



The escutcheon, which refers to the rear portion of the 

 animal where the hair turns up, was the subject of con- 

 siderable study by a Frenchman named Quenon, who 

 regarded the size and shape of it as the chief indication 

 of merit in dairy cows. At the present time, however, 

 very little importance is attached to this point. 



PURITY OF BREEDING. 



Selection is based upon the law that "like produces 

 like." According to this law the characters of the par- 

 ents are transmitted to the offspring with a greater or 

 less degree of certainty. The purer the breeding of the 

 parents the greater the certainty of such transmission. 

 Thus, for example, one can figure with much certainty 

 that the progeny of pure-bred parents of the same breed 

 will resemble its parents in all essential characteristics. 

 On the other hand, there is no certainty whatever that the 

 off-spring of parents of promiscuous breeding will resem- 

 ble its parents, either in important or unimportant particu- 

 lars. It may be like them or it may be totally unlike them. 



It is the long period of breeding along one line without 

 admixture of foreign blood that gives the pure-bred 

 animal the superior power of transmitting its qualities to 

 its offspring, a power which is known as prepotency. In 

 the building up of a dairy herd it is of the highest im- 



