276 JUDGING DAIRY CATTLE 



development of the circulatory system. An animal with a 

 weakened system would have low vitality and therefore 

 not only would it be limited in point of present attainment, 

 but the durability and persistency of production would be 

 lessened in the offspring. 



As the dairy animal gives off the products of food diges- 

 tion, absorption and assimilation, daily the natural result 

 would be an animal with the spare, open conformation such 

 as the dairy animal possesses. The block animals, which 

 accumulate the products of the manufactured food, assume 

 an entirely different form. Instead of the food products 

 being given off daily there is an accumulation on the body 

 of the animal, based on dry matter, a similar or like amount 

 of manufactured food materials. We have, therefore, the 

 two distinct types, one eliminating from the body through 

 the mammary system and the other accumulating the prod- 

 ucts in the bone and muscular tissues, the former being 

 represented in the dairy animal and the latter in the block 

 animal. 



Dairy Form. The type of a typical dairy cow presents a 

 striking contrast to meat-producing animals. This is only 

 natural, however, considering the peculiar nature of the work 

 to be performed. In all other food-producing animals the 

 effect of food consumption is cumulative, the digested por- 

 tions of the food eaten being stored in the body of the animal. 

 The square, blocky, compact form produces the most econom- 

 ical results from a meat-productive standpoint because the 

 maximum amount of the manufactured product can be 

 stored under such conditions. Likewise the dairy type of 

 animal produces the largest quantity of milk be'cause of the 

 adaptation of the triangular or wedge-shaped form to milk 

 production. The dairy animal does not have need for a 

 broad, smooth, compact shoulder, back, loin, or thighs. 

 The one great work of this type of animal is to produce, 

 through the digestive and mammary systems, the maximum 

 amount of milk possible under the conditions of individual 

 form, kind and quantity of feed consumed and general care 

 and management. This necessitates a striking contrast in 

 the development of the body of beef and dairy animals. 



