bone and the lower line or line of the belly approaching each other 

 from behind. When looked at from behind or from above, the animal 

 should also present a wedge shape, the lines of the wedge approaching 

 each other from rear to front. The dairy cow, therefore, shows a 

 double wedge. The ribs, to harmonize with this general wedge shape 

 are rather flat immediately behind the shoulders. At this point they 

 do not spring out very widely but, toward the posterior part of the 

 animal, the ribs spring out from the backbone more and more broadly 

 in order to give room for large internal organs, for a big workshop. 



"The Udder. The udder should not be very pendent but should 

 obtain capacity by breadth, being wide from side to side, extending 

 well forward, well backward also, and high up between the thighs. 

 It should be broadly and firmly attached to the abdomen. The skin 

 of the udder should be thin and delicate. The udder should be well 

 filled out at the bottom between the teats, and the latter should be 

 wide apart, squarely placed, and of good size. 



"The veins leading from the udder forward, just beneath the skin 

 of the belly, should be large, tortuous, and rapidly branching. They 

 should pass in through the walls of the abdomen through large open- 

 ings. These veins do not, however, become fully developed until the 

 cow reaches maturity. They are the passages through which the 

 blood returns from the udder to the heart and, since a large amount 

 of blood passing through the udder is essential to the production of a 

 large amount of milk, the development of these veins in a mature cow 

 is a point of much importance, 



"In general appearance, the dairy cow is somewhat loose and 

 angular as compared with the beef type. An animal of this type 

 is not as pleasing to the eye as one which is more compact, smoother, 

 and plumper in general appearance, but it should be remembered 

 that 'handsome is what handsome does,' and that cows with these 

 peculiarities will do 'handsomely.' 



"The Skin. The skin should be moderately thin, flexible, and 

 elastic, the hair soft and fine. A skin which is too thin or papery 

 indicates lack of constitution. The skin of the dairy cow, however, 

 should be somewhat thinner than that of animals of the beef breeds. 

 When the animal is in good condition, the skin will move somewhat 

 freely beneath the outspread hand and it can be rather easily raised 

 between the thumb and finger over the ribs. 



"According to Hoard, a large navel is one of the most certain indi- 

 cations of strong constitution and he insists that since strong constitu- 

 tion is essential to large production, this is an exceedingly important 

 point to be noted in selecting a dairy cow." 



The most popular breeds of dairy cows in the United States are, 



